


A Feeling Always Present

by MarbledMegu



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Romance, Slow burn (ish?), also heads up i'm using she pronouns in this exclusively, i don't really say what pokemon you have but i do choose some out on the isle, i dont know what else to say this is my first fic on here, im trying to have angst in here but it isn't my most angsty piece, others seem to express interest in it so here it is ??, they're just stupid honestly, this is very self indulgent and it's honestly only written for me, uhhhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29086416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarbledMegu/pseuds/MarbledMegu
Summary: A sluggishness has passed over Hop and his rival, the newly found champion of the Galar region. Maybe an extended stay at the Isle of Armour, a land notorious for defeating even the most skilled Pokemon trainers, will get them back on their feet?Also on Wattpad, there it's called "Unearthing of Armour". Changing the title here because I don't like the one on Wattpad a whole lot, but I feel it's too late to change it now.A very self-indulgent fanfiction pretty much written for me which I felt was only appropriate to put here as well. Little warning, there's mild swearing in this occasionally.
Relationships: Hop (Pokemon) & Reader
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

12:09 pm, Wedgehurst.

Hop sat at the counter of the laboratory drowsily. He was beyond bored. It’s been a long day, week, month, and beyond that in a sense. He couldn’t quite get the motivation to do anything at the moment and he was considerably more tired all of the time. He’s made some good discoveries in part of Sonia, but he isn’t quite sure what to make of it. He stretches, squeaking slightly. He got up and yawns. Goodness, what is he supposed to do if he feels so tired and indolent all the time? He walks over to the window, where his Dubwool sat and slept on the small Pokemon bed that Sonia dragged over to the window to sit on. He sat on the floor next to him, petting his soft wool and sighing.  
“Do you know what I’m supposed to do, Dubwool?” He says softly, looking at the plants growing in the small greenhouse. Dubwool snored softly in response. How helpful. He decided to sit there for a while longer, hoping that he’ll suddenly get the motivation to study again, but it would take a miracle for that to happen.  
Hop heard the door creak open, with Sonia coming in with some mail from outside and y/n shortly behind her. He looked over to them, who were chatting about the studies that the two of them had made in the few last months. Hop quickly gets back onto his feet and runs over to the two, smiling. y/n smiles back and walks past Sonia a bit to hug Hop.  
“Gosh, y/n, I don’t even remember the last time I saw you!” He says, hugging her tightly. He lets go, still beaming. She smiles back brightly, cheeks a little flushed.  
“I couldn’t even begin to tell you. I’ve been so busy, I’m only finally getting a break, and it’s… well… I should let Sonia tell you.” She says, looking over at Sonia to make eye contact with her. Sonia looks back and cracks a smile. She puts the large majority of the mail she had gotten down on the counter and kept one in her hand. It looked sort of fancy in a way.  
“Well, both of you have seemed a little more… sluggish, being the best way to put it, as of recent.” She starts, tearing the seal of the envelope. “Hop, I feel since you’re not being challenged enough here, you’re growingly... Depressive.”  
“Huh?” He exclaims. y/n chuckles at him and Sonia smiles a little bit.  
“All of us have noticed it, Hop. You’ll like this, don’t worry. Anyway, y/n, you seem like you aren’t enjoying the high life that being a champion has given you.” Sonia continues. Hop looks over at y/n, slightly disconcerted but not commenting on it yet.  
“So, I have enrolled you both at the Master Dojo on the Isle of Armour. I’m sure you both will love the thrill and challenge!” She says, taking the two tickets for you two out and handing them to both of you. Hop beams.  
“Thank you so much, Sonia!” y/n says happily. She takes her ticket, holding it in both her hands. She wiggles in anticipation. Hop takes his too and looks over at y/n.  
“It’s really no problem, you two. I know you need it.” She says walking back to the counter to look through the rest of her mail. “You’ll have to be there as soon as possible, so I advise you to go ahead and pack now.” She says, smiling at the two. Hop nods and quickly dashes out the door. y/n thanks Sonia one last time before leaving. 

“So, what are you expecting from this?” Hop asks, the two walk home together from the lab. Thankfully he didn’t run the entire way home and waited for her at the exit to the lab.  
“I’m not entirely sure, honestly. This is something pretty new.” She says, looking up at the sky a bit. It’s gorgeous out today.  
“I heard from Leon it was tough! He went there when he was younger.” He says, looking down at the ticket he received. Continuing their peaceful walk, they start hearing dramatic yelling coming from behind them. They both stop and turn around, seeing Sonia trying to catch up to them.  
She finally manages to catch up to them and leans over and puts her hands on her knees, panting. She raises her hand, handing them a piece of paper that seemed to be some sort of informative advertisement.  
“I- hah, I forgot to give you this.” She continues to pant, desperately trying to catch her breath. y/n takes the piece of paper. The two take a look at it.  
“Ooh. Okay. That makes more sense.” Hop says, scanning over it. “So… we’re staying there permanently-ish until our training is done?” He says, glancing over at y/n. Sonia nods. She finally gets her hands off her knees and stands normally. Her cheeks are extremely flushed.  
y/n points to a specific spot on the paper. “Look how pretty it is… we should explore it together!” She says, smiling. Hop smiles back and looks at Sonia.  
“Make sure you let your parents know, you’ll have to go tomorrow morning.” She says. “I’ll see you two when you get back, ‘kay?” y/n nods and Hop enthusiastically goes “Of course!” He goes over and hugs Sonia.  
“I’ll miss you in the lab, but I know you need it.” She says, hugging him back. He lets go, his smile still present. Hop quietly says thank you and walks back over to y/n’s side. She smiles, and turns around and walks back to the lab.  
A small silence passed between the two, continuing back to Postwick. Not very awkward, the two have spent enough time together for it to be not weird. y/n was slightly reading the paper Sonia handed them, keeping her eyes forward but trying to still gather information from it. Hop glanced at y/n peculiarly.  
“y/n?” He says softly. She looks at him. “Hm?”  
“What was that comment from Sonia about? With being a champion?” He asks. His tone wasn’t exactly the best. y/n smiled lightheartedly but awkwardly.  
“It’s… a lot less battling than I would have hoped. It’s a lot of ‘come to this photoshoot!’ and ‘come on this telly show!’.” She finishes saying, Hop looking away and down at the road.  
“That makes sense. I imagine it must be draining.” He says, putting his hand and dragging it along the fence following the road. Another silence drifted between the two, a bit awkward this time. It stayed until they had reached their home. It wasn’t until then y/n said something else too.  
“I think I’d mind it less if you would come along.” She says, smiling a little bit. “You’re nice to have around, you know.” Hop’s heart tickled a little bit. He chose to ignore it.  
“... thanks, mate. I appreciate it,” He says, smiling softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”  
y/n nods. “Of course. See you tomorrow!” She says, hugging him quickly and walking to her house. She takes a look more at the paper given to her. She still isn’t quite sure what to expect from this, but she’s expecting the best from it. 

08:39 am, Postwick.

“Okay… that should be the last of it.” y/n thinks to herself. She decided to start packing last night, then forget about it after she ate dinner and had to wake up earlier than she would have preferred to finish packing. Hop texted her not soon before, asking her if she were ready.

Hop: Hey hey hey hey!! Are you ready??

y/n: … not quite- I kiiinda forgot to finish packing last night

Hop: EYY me too mate let’s get our shit together 

y/n: LANGUAGE HOP /lh

Hop: NOOOOOOO 

y/n: HAHAHA

The short conversation ended once y/n realized she really needed to pack already. She put in the rest of the stuff she would need, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, anything else that would be needed for travel for extended periods of time, she had it all in there, including some other weird stuff she may not even need while there. She grabs the information paper for it and her ticket off of her nightstand and put it in her bag. All her pokemon were in there already. She closed the door behind her as she left her room.  
Quietly going to the kitchen, she takes something small to eat while she travels there. One of those granola bars that are supposed to be extremely healthy, but they’re entirely covered in chocolate. She shoves half of it in her mouth. She closes the cabinet and goes out the door. Little did she know, Hop is already at her door quietly waiting.  
“BOO!!” He yells as soon as y/n steps out of her home, scaring the life out of her and almost making her choke on her granola bar. She looks over at him, about to beat the life out of him in a friendly way.  
“Arceus, you almost killed me. I was eating!” She says, exasperatingly. Hop laughs hysterically, bending over with his eyes closed.  
“Oh gosh, that was hysterical!! I need to do that more!” He says, continuing to laugh.  
“Hop, I swear, I will kick you in the stomach next time you do that.” She says, starting to walk away from her home to go to the train station. Hop walks next to them, still sort of laughing.  
“No promises, but I’ll make sure to have one of my pokemon out to defend me, who knows what kind of damage you would do to poor me!” He dramatically says, putting his hand on his head. y/n looks at him playfully annoyed.  
“Whatever you say, Hop.” She says. She smiles and eats the other half of her granola bar. Hop pouts. “Hm, what’s your problem?” She asks, glancing at him.  
“I forgot to eat anything before we got here. I’m staaaarving.” He says, once again dramatically. y/n laughs a bit at this.  
“How about we stop at that cafe before we go to the station? I’m sure they’ll have something you like.” Hop happily agrees.  
“How about we race there?” He suggests.  
“Mate, I have all of this stuff on me. Suitcase, bag, my own body, I can barely keep it together here.” She says, slightly whining.  
Hop snickers and leans in closer to y/n’s ear. “Sounds like you’re a coward.” With this, y/n takes off sprinting, leaving Hop behind. He laughs and starts running too. It doesn’t take long for Hop to catch out with her, toe to toe next to each other. As they approach the shop, Hop slips and falls. y/n stop dead in her tracks to help him up.  
“Are you okay?” She asks, taking his hands as he gets him back to his feet. He groans for a second, looks ahead, and continues to book it to the cafe. y/n gasps in betrayal as she starts to run too. Hop stops as soon as he gets to the cafe, claiming victory by yelling very loudly. y/n finally catches up after a few seconds, playfully angry at Hop.  
“Damn you… you cheated!” She says, also fairly loudly. Hop laughs and looks at her with a giant smile.  
“No, I made the best of my circumstances. Look how much blood there is on my hands!” He says, flashing his hands up to y/n's face. They were very beaten up. y/n flinches in disgust.  
“Arceus, Hop! One second…” She says, taking her bag off and putting it on the ground. After a small bit of digging, she takes out a roll of bandage. “Hands.” She commands, with Hop promptly holding them out for her. She wraps his hands meticulously. Hop’s cheeks flush up a little bit.  
“There you go, all better.” She says, putting the bandages back in her bag and putting it back on her bag. Hop looks at his hands for a little longer, then makes them into fists.  
“Look how cool I am now! I look like a fighter!” He says, enthusiastically. y/n smiles and opens the door to the cafe.  
“How fitting we’re going to a dojo, then!” She says, walking into the cafe. She stands in line when she notices the person in front of her looks a little too familiar. He turns around.  
“Hey, y/n, Hop! Lucky running into you two here!” He says, he is Milo. His beaming smile warms both of them up.  
“Hey, Milo! We’re just getting something before we take off.” Hop says, standing close to y/n.  
“Oh? Where are you two off to?” He asks, stepping when the next person leaves the line.  
“We’re going to the Master Dojo. Sonia’s making us, haha.” y/n says.  
“Oooh. That’s a tough place. I’m sure both of you will have no trouble with it, though. Good luck otherwise!” He says, soon after taking his order. Hop and y/n wait patiently, well, as patient as Hop can be. Milo leaves, waving the two goodbyes for the time being and walking out the door. It seemed he got a piece of cake to-go. Wonder what he’s gonna do with that.  
“Welcome! What would you two like?” The lady at the front of the cafe asked the two. Hop and y/n quickly scan the menu above her.  
“I… I want a strawberry croissant…” Hop says, looking at the one inside of the glass casing. Hop looked like he was in love with the croissant. Thankfully, he isn’t. This is a Hop x Reader fanfiction, after all!  
“I’ll have a small mocha, please.” y/n says politely.  
“That’ll be 1055 Pokedollars.” She says, in which y/n prompt takes out her card. Hop stares at the croissant a few seconds more before noticing y/n is paying.  
“Wait, you don’t wanna split?” He asks. y/n shakes her head.  
“No, it’s fine. I’ve got it covered. You beat me in that race, so it’s only fair.” She says, smiling. The lady gives them their food and drink. “Have a nice day!”  
Hop shoves the entire croissant in his mouth fairly fast. y/n, however, slowly sips her drink while looking at Hop as he almost chokes on his food. He’s like a bird swallowing a fish whole. Thankfully, he’s eating something a little more appetizing than raw fish. y/n would have evacuated the town if that were the case.  
“You were really hungry, huh?” She remarks, smirking. Hop tries to talk while he still has the entire croissant in his mouth. “Yeah, totally understand, mate.” Hop spends a few more seconds chewing and swallowing before actually speaking.  
“Uh, yeah! I haven’t eaten since dinner last night! That’s…” Hop counts on his fingers for a second. “FIFTEEN HOURS!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THAT IS?!” He dramatically wails.  
“My gosh, yes, I do!” y/n says, laughing. Hop also laughs. They continue, and finally, make it to the train station.  
“Well, let’s say goodbye to Galar homeland.” y/n says, turning around to look at her surroundings. Hop just walks in, ready to get their new adventure going. y/n rolls her eyes.  
What an adventure they’re both about to go on.


	2. Chapter 2

09:04 am, Wedgeherst.

The pair walk into the train station, looking around to see who would take their passes. A man waits by the booth. He soon announces that the train to the Isle of Armour has arrived and for those who have passes to board. Another pair, one with pink hair and an obnoxious bow and the other with long blond hair and an even more obnoxious top hat wait for the man to check their passes. As they wait, a Slowpoke crawls out from the train and lays on the floor, as a Slowpoke would do. The pink-haired girl immediately points out the obvious, that the Slowpoke was indeed, in the train station.   
“Looks like it hitched a ride here,” Hop whispers to y/n. She snickers and walks to it, crouching down.  
“You two are trainers, correct?” The man asking about the passes asks the two. “I think I recognize you two.”   
“Uh, yeah! She’s the champion, and I’m a professor in training!” Hop says, beaming.   
“Right… could one of you two catch it? It’ll likely be a problem for other people passing through.”  
“A Slowpoke being a problem? It isn’t moving.” y/n says, confused.  
“I’ll do it!” Hop says, walking in front of y/n and taking out a Pokeball to catch it. He gets on his knees and nudges the Slowpoke. The ball opens with it going inside and with ease, Hop now has a Slowpoke.  
“It didn’t even struggle…” the blond top hat man says. The man asking about the passes taps the strangers on the shoulder, handing them their passes. Hop and y/n are preoccupied.  
“So… what are you gonna do with it?” y/n asks. Hop looks at the ball and puts it in his bag.  
“Not sure, maybe I’ll train it and have it hang out at the lab.” He says. y/n nods and looks over at the train.   
“Do you two have passes?” The man asks, with Hop and y/n promptly getting them out of their bags. He nods and lets them on the train. 

The ride to the coast was mostly quiet, the two spending most of their time on their phones. Hop will make small chit chat occasionally and at one point, he got another croissant and proceeded to do the exact same thing he did while they were still in town. It isn’t exactly surprising, either. But, once they get to the coast, things change a bit.  
“...So. We’re in our flying taxi, right? I’m used to that. Overwater, not so much.” Hop says, getting his stuff in the back of the taxi. y/n follows shortly, putting her things in as well before closing the trunk of the taxi.  
“We’re gonna be in an in-closed space, we aren’t gonna fall out or anything.” She says, getting in on the left side. Hop does the same on the right.  
“What if we fall off the Corviknight?” He asks, fiddling with his hands. He seemed anxious.   
“That’s not gonna happen. Even if it does, we have literal gods as our pets. It’ll be fine.” She says, Hop smiling a little bit. He hadn’t considered that. The Corviknight takes off, with Hop being startled and immediately grabbing onto y/n. Her cheeks flush up, but he looks like he’s gonna pass out. She puts her arms around him, patting his head.  
“There, there. We aren’t going to hurl into the ocean.” She says, slightly condescendingly. Hop shoots her a dirty look, her immediately looking away smiling. It didn’t take long for Hop to get himself together.  
“You can let go now…” Hop says, which y/n promptly does. “Thanks, though!” He says, happily. y/n smiles back.  
Once again, most of this trip is quiet. But instead of their phones, they look out the window and the vast ocean. On y/n’s side, she can see the speckles of the Kalos region. It isn’t super far from Galar, only a short ride there could get someone in one of the coastal cities quickly.   
Landing prompted Hop to grab onto her again, but this time it was just her sleeve. She wonders how he would have taken this trip if she didn’t come along. The taxi gently hits the ground, in which y/n gets out and quickly takes out her things. Hop does the same soon after, taking out his bag and suitcase. It obviously belonged to Leon.  
“Did you steal Leon’s suitcase?” She asks, looking at it.   
“Noooo… I’m borrowing it for an extended period of time…” He says, smiling a bit. “He doesn’t even use it much anymore anyway, he got a new fancy one because he’s a celebrity at this point.”   
“Right… be sure to steal that one too when he gets another new one, then.” She remarks sarcastically.  
“I sure will! I’ll come over and bring it, and ‘behold! Leon’s Suitcase That I Didn’t Steal 2.0’!!” He says, dramatically holding his hand into the air.  
“I’m highly looking forward to it.” She says, walking into the main area of the… taxi station. A lady presumed to be a scientist walks up to them.  
“Are you two new to the island? I will need to update your Pokédex if so.” She says. y/n nods and takes out her Pokédex, Hop digging through his bag to find his. She hands the scientist her Pokédex, turning around to Hop.  
“... Do you need any help?” She asks. Hop looks up.   
“I mean, you can look around in here. This bag is huge.” He says. y/n crouches on the ground, digging around in the giant bag. There’s plenty of things someone would expect of Hop in there. His Pokeballs, medicine, standards for travelling, the standards. There are also some snacks in there that he got from the train ride. She saw a few other things but didn’t quite take a good look at them. She finally found the Pokédex and handed it to him. He smiled brightly.  
“Thanks, mate! I probably wouldn’t have spotted it otherwise.” He said, handing the lady the dex. She handed y/n her dex back and put hers in her bag. Hop gets his back soon after, putting his back in his bag and closing it, getting it on his back. The two start to walk off the station before another pair walks in, stopping them. It was the same people they saw at the station in Wedgehurst, the pink hair and blond hair pair.   
“You two must be the new students. What fabulous punctuality you two have.” The blond person says. His top hat must have gotten more obnoxious. Hop kind of wanted to see what was under it.   
“Yep.” y/n said. The vibe the two have put her off.   
“Great! I’m Klara, and this is Avery. We’re veterans to the dojo!” The one known as Klara says.   
“I’m Hop! This is y/n, she’s the champion!!” He says enthusiastically. y/n smiles and her cheeks flush up a bit. Klara takes immediate notice to this and smirks.   
“Why don’t we battle? This is the Dojo’s island, after all!” Klara says. “Let’s make it a double battle. It will be more interesting that way.” Avery adds. Hop immediately says yes, extremely happy and ready to start battling again. The four go outside and go through their bags to figure out what Pokémon to use.   
“What are you gonna use, y/n?” Hop whispers to her. She shows him a set of Pokeballs. It’s her favourite Pokémon, and judging from the… vibes those two have, she figured out at least one of them must be a psychic trainer.   
“Alright… I’m gonna use Corviknight and Dubwool. If they attack, maybe landing on me will get you more hits on them.” He says.   
“Good idea. Let’s kick their ass!” She says. Hop gasps sarcastically.   
“I thought we weren’t allowed to swear!” He says. y/n nudges him.  
“Don’t tell anyone.” She says. She stands up, turning to the other pair. “You two ready?”  
“Yep!” Klara says sweetly. Her tone soon after turns one of disdain. She presses her finger aggressively against her ball. “Let’s get this going.” 

11:38 am, Fields of Honour.

Klara and Avery send out their first Pokémon, a Venipede and an Abra. Both Hop and y/n send out their Pokémon next, the two glancing at each other before starting.   
“Corviknight, drill peck!” He exclaims, pointing at Venipede. Corviknight promptly attacks, one-shotting the Venipede. Klara smiles angrily.   
“Beginners luck… go, Slowpoke!” She says, sending out her Slowpoke. Avery glances at her.   
“...we choose the same second Pokémon.” He says, trying to stay quiet. Hop and y/n hear this though and Hop snickers. Avery shoots him a dirty look before looking back at Klara. She stays quiet, smiling even angrier now.   
y/n sends an attack onto Avery’s Abra, also one-shotting it. Avery and Klara look like they’re about to lose their mind. Avery then sends out a Slowpoke as well.   
“You two really didn’t think this through…” Hop said, smiling. He kind of looked like a prick.   
“Shut up! We’re gonna annihilate you both!” Klara yelled. y/n sighed and used an attack that would go after both Slowpokes, once again one-shotting them. Hop and y/n look at each other, kind of… stunned how poorly they did.   
“Nice try.” She says. Klara and Avery apprehensively hand them money for winning.   
“There’s gotta be some sort of mistake here…” Klara says, grumbling. Avery kind of just stays away and stays quiet. He didn’t look particularly happy, either. Klara grabs Avery by his collar and makes a small huddle with him. They’re obviously scheming.   
“So… do you want to explore?” Hop asks. y/n looks over at him, smiling.  
“Sure! We should probably come by the Dojo first, though. I think they take punctuality seriously here.” She says. Avery and Klara turn around.   
“Hey… I’m sorry, but… I think you aren’t quite Master Dojo material. You two aren’t good enough.” Klara says, smiling. Hop grumbles.   
“You two lost…” He says, confused. y/n looks equally as confused.   
“Our dojo is a respected place. We wouldn’t want you tarnishing the reputation of it. Feel free to explore, however. The island is lovely!” Avery says. Hop sighs.   
“Here, take this! As a souvenir.” She says, handing them both small cards made of plastic. “It’ll let you both have a better selection at Boutiques! Have fun!” She says, taking Avery’s wrist aggressively and running off. y/n and Hop look at each other beyond confused.   
“Let’s go to the Dojo… to clarify things.” y/n says, starting to walk in the direction of. Hop walks alongside her. Hop takes a look around at the scenery. He’s a bit bewildered about how pretty the island is.  
“This place is gorgeous… I could stay here forever!” He says. y/n smiles.  
“That wouldn’t be very responsible, professor in training.” She says. Hop’s cheeks flush up.  
“Shut up! Don’t call me that!” He says, smiling, holding his hands up to his face. y/n laughs brightly. Hop’s short attention quickly gets grabbed by a Pokémon he sees.  
“Ooh look! A Chancey!” He says, pointing over to it.   
“I’ve heard they’re really good for getting your Pokémon stronger.” y/n says. Hop nods.   
“Yup! I haven’t seen one before, though.”   
“I’ve heard there’s a lot of Pokémon here that aren’t on Galar mainland.” She walks up to the Master Dojo. She sees Klara and Avery standing out front with another person.   
“So they both left? What a shame…” The lady they did not know says. She looks disappointed.  
“Correct… they both left after our battle. We offered to escort them, but they left.” Avery says. Klara glances over to her side, seeing both of them standing there. The other lady takes notice of this and beams.  
“You two must be the new students!” She says. Klara hits Avery in the stomach with her elbow before running over to stand next to them.  
“Yup! Looks like they changed their mind!” She says, smiling. Avery grumbles, staying where he is.   
“Perfect! I’m so glad you two will be joining! You must be y/n… and… Hop, I believe?” She asks.  
“Yup!” Hop says enthusiastically.   
“I’m Honey. I keep this place up and running… you can consider me the lady of this house!” She says. “It seems you’ve already met Avery and Klara. They’re odd ducklings, but they’re a part of the family! They’re planning on being gym leaders. You all will get along, I assume?”   
Klara looks at the two. “Of course! We’ll all be best friends!” Avery chimes in.  
“Of course. It’s nice to be acquainted.”   
“Come with me, you all must have been outside for too long today,” Honey says. Hop and y/n start to walk before Klara obnoxiously assert herself in front of them.  
“If you tell anyone about what happens… well… Avery has some tricks up his sleeve,” Klara says. Avery ignores her attempt of threatening and leaves her outside.   
“Right…” y/n says. Klara takes off and goes inside the Dojo. Hop and y/n look at each other again before going inside. The two look around, taking in the environment of the building. It’s spacious and well decorated… a hall to the right has a multitude of rooms going along it with an upstairs area. The assumed master is standing in front of other students attending the dojo. He looks old. Very, very old.  
“Excuse me!” Honey says loudly. “We have two new students joining us today! Please welcome Hop and y/n, you all have lots to teach them!” She says. In unison, all of the students greet Hop and y/n to the dojo, making Hop flinch. y/n giggles at this.   
“Everyone’s very hardworking here… I’m sure you two will fit right in!” She says. A younger boy, maybe around six or seven. Approach them. “This is my son, Hyde. He’s incredibly intelligent.” She says, slightly bragging. The child sighs and walks away soon after. Honey turns to look at the front of the class.  
“That back there is my dear husband, Mustard. He’s the master of this dojo.” Hop gasps as soon as he recognizes who it is.  
“You’re the champion before Lee!! Oh my god… he knows his stuff, y/n!!” Hop says, enthusiastically. y/n smiles and nods.   
“Hehe… looks like someone already knows about me. How about we battle? To see how strong you both are.” He asks.   
“Sure! Let’s go, Hop!” y/n says. She seems extremely enthusiastic about this.   
“Ah, one at a time. There’s only one of me!” Mustard says. y/n and Hop look at each other.   
“Alright, I’ll go first…” y/n says, digging through her bag. She chooses her legendary. Time to show everyone here what she’s made of. 

After two short battles, both of them winning, the people around them start to chat. It can be assumed that the large majority of people there knew about them both, they’ve been on TV quite a bit in the last year.   
“You two must love your Pokémon a lot, no wonder both of you won!” He says. “I’m glad you both can join us. You’ll be perfect additions here!”   
“Thank you!” y/n says, smiling. Hop follows up quickly after.  
“We won’t let you down, Master!” Hop says. Mustard smiles at both of them.   
“Well, why don’t you both go put on your Dojo uniform?” He says, handing them both a stack of clothes with some other things with it. “On that note, I should probably show you your room. Follow me.” He walks down the hall previously mentioned, Hop and y/n following shortly behind. They stop at the second to last door of the hall.  
“You both will be staying in here together. I assume it won’t be a problem since you two already know each other well.” He says, looking back at them both. They both nod. It wasn’t long before Klara and Avery run down the hall.   
“HEY! You never gave us uniforms!” Klara says, loudly. Avery nods.   
“Hmm… must be. I’ll give you both uniforms in a moment, just until these two get settled.” He opens the door for them, opening up to a room with two beds on opposite walls. They’re slightly lifted up off the ground, giving space for drawers underneath them. A small desk is at each end of the bed, too.  
“Awesome! Thank you!” He says, immediately dropping his stuff on the floor. “You mind if I get dressed in here, y/n? Since I’m already in here and all.”   
“Nope! Not at all! Let me just put my stuff down.” She says, putting her suitcase and her bag on the ground. She only gets out her Pokeballs. “Where is the bathroom?”   
“Right next door!” He says. y/n quickly goes in to get changed.

Both Hop and y/n leave their respective rooms, looking at each other when they leave. Both of their cheeks flush a little.   
“It looks good on you, mate!” He says. y/n smiles gently.  
“You too! We’re gonna kill it here.” She says, walking out to the main area. Hop follows shortly behind, as soon as they’re about to come in, a Slowpoke comes in as soon as Avery and Klara get their uniforms. It quickly speeds up, stealing both of their uniforms.  
“How dare you!” Avery yells. “Give me back my uniform!” He yells, Klara growling with both of them going after it. Mustard laughs.   
“That Slowpoke is faster than me at my age. This starts your first trial, get my Slowpokes back and get their uniform! You must defeat them.” 

01:03 pm, Fields of Honour.

All the students in the Dojo, excluding y/n and Hop, took off out the door to find the Slowpokes and capture them. The two decide to keep a casual pace outside just because they didn’t quite know the area well. Going outside, the two stand a fork in the road.  
“Which way did you think they went?” y/n asks. She looks down each road, one going back to where they came from and the other to an area they haven’t been. They can’t quite see up the hill.   
“I don’t see any Slowpokes down the way we went… and I think everyone went the other way.” He says y/n nodding and the two go down that direction. As soon as they get to the top of the hill, they can see various students of the Dojo trying to catch their breath. They spot one of the Slowpokes running around a pond, still extremely quickly.   
“What should we do about… all of them?” Hop asks. He takes out one of his Pokeballs, seemingly getting ready to have a fight with one of them if he could manage to catch it. y/n tries to spot the other two.   
“I think the problem is that they’re trying to catch them running after them, but that isn’t really gonna work.” She starts. She spots the other one and starts to grin. “I think we can get all three if we block off their path.” Hop grins, he looks like he’s ready to take off.   
“Let’s do it!” He says. And like that, he’s off. He goes for the first Slowpoke that’s nearest to the pond. He watches it for a second before standing in its tracks. y/n runs down next and stands near, waiting until it starts running toward Hop. She stands in the line before it turns around and runs away, quickly scooping it up by its stomach and holding it like a cat.   
“Awh! It’s so cute when you hold it like that.” Hop says, taking the shirts out of its mouth. It makes a small noise when taken out. Another student walks up to the two.   
“Do you want me to take it?” She asks. y/n nods, and hands the Slowpoke to her. “I’ll take her back over to the Dojo, they three belong to Mustard.”   
“Well, that makes sense… hey, why are we doing this anyway?” Hop asks the student. y/n tunes into this with a curious expression.   
“It’s for the secret armour of the Dojo. We don’t know what it is, but Master Mustard says there’s only two.” The student says. She rotates the Slowpoke and lets its arm rest on her shoulder. “I should head back. He’s really heavy… I’ll let Master Mustard know you two caught him.” y/n nods and Hop is already zoning in on the next Slowpoke they would catch.   
“You see it?” y/n asks. Hop nods and starts to walk over to it, y/n following shortly behind. The two watched the Slowpoke’s circle, Hop stepping in when it runs past them again. The two make eye contact before Hop quickly looks away. As it starts to go closer to him, y/n steps in and blocks the path, Hop quickly picking it up. y/n takes the clothing out of its mouth, putting them into her pockets.   
“Should we hand it off?” Hop asks. y/n nods, and looks around. She approaches a student who seemed to be trying to catch his breath after chasing the Slowpokes. Hop walks over to him with the Slowpoke.  
“Could you bring this back to the Dojo for us? We’re gonna try to catch the last one.” Hop asks. The student nods, holding his hands out for the Slowpoke. Hop hands it to him, the student almost falling to the ground, not expecting the weight of the Slowpoke. y/n has to keep her laughs in. Hop thanks him, before coming back over to her.   
“Let’s go get that last one.” y/n says, spotting the last one. She runs over to it, this time she being the one that blocks the path of the Slowpoke. Once again, they make their attempt to snatch the Slowpoke. However, this time, the Slowpoke runs around y/n.   
“What?!” Hop says, dashing after it. “Come back here!!” He follows after it, making a sharp turn around and running in the direction of y/n. She crouches down, grinning. It runs directly into her, her grabbing it and putting it over her arms. Hop runs back over to her, panting.   
“Damn Slowpokes…” He says, gasping after to catch his breath. y/n looks at him particularly.   
“Can you grab what it has? We’re about done here.” She says. Hop stands up straight, walking around taking out the accessories it has in its mouth. “Let’s go back.”  
A short walk later, Hop holds the door open for y/n since her arms are full of Slowpoke. Master Mustard watches them come in and smiles.   
“Very well done! I’m told you two found out about the Secret Armour.” He says. y/n hands him the last Slowpoke. Avery and Klara are waiting by the wall, sort of tired but also frustrated.   
“We got your uniforms!” Hop says, taking what he had and combining it with what y/n hands him. “You can have them!” He says.   
“How did you do that…” Klara asks, taking her uniform. Avery simply gives him a “hmph.” before taking his.   
“We will continue with our next trial tomorrow. Curfew starts at 10 pm!” Master Mustard says, before walking away and going down the hall. Hop and y/n look at each other.  
“I’m gonna get my stuff set up, you wanna join?” y/n asks. Hop cheerfully nods.   
“Yup! I need to sit down anyway… I’m exhausted.” The two start walking to their room. Other students around them do various activities; training, cooking, and relaxing in general. Klara and Avery take a walk outside, likely to let out their growing frustration with Hop and y/n.  
“That’s what you get for chasing after it. It was gonna turn around anyway.” She says, smiling. Hop simply gives a sigh as a response.  
Getting to their room, y/n didn’t quite realize how small the room was. There was probably a meter and a half between the two beds. Thankfully, Hop doesn’t snore. Enough camping trips have proven that.  
Hop immediately pours out all of his stuff onto the floor. All the stuff y/n had seen before while looking for his Pokédex came flooding out. He proceeds to do the same thing with his suitcase.  
“My Arceus, Hop! Hopefully, neither of us trip and die over your massive pile.” She says sarcastically. She puts her bag on her bed, taking out some of the things she had brought. Her first action was to plug in her Rotem phone charger.   
“I’ll be quick! I just need everything out.” He says. He opens the closet on the opposite wall of the beds, putting his suitcase on top of the rack that will hang all the clothes. y/n takes out a few books she had brought with her.  
“Did you bring any books from the lab?” She asks, standing up to put the books on the corner of the desk. It wasn’t likely she was going to read them, it’s more decoration to make the new room more homely.   
“Pfffft, no. This is a break for me, I will not partake in any studying while I’m here.” He says. y/n scans the pile, only seeing one book. She bends over and takes it.   
“What’s this, then?” Hop quickly turns around and snatched it out of her hands.  
“Thaaaat is my journal I’ll use to document fighting and whatnot while I’m here!” He says, putting it on his desk. y/n looks at him peculiarly.   
“So you’re writing a diary while you’re here?” She says. His cheeks flush up a bit in response.   
“No! It’s strictly for documenting Pokémon!” He yells, covering his face. “You’re so mean! Sonia told me to!!”   
“Oh, well, that’s fair.” She says, grinning. She takes out some of the other things she had brought with her. She lays her Pokeballs on her desk, there are six grooves for where they all can go.   
Hop stays quiet after this, focusing on his giant pile. He grabs a small wrapped box with a tiny bow on it.  
“Hey! y/n! I got you something!” Hop says. y/n turns around and looks at the tiny box.   
“Awh, you didn’t have to…” She says. She takes it from him and sits down. Taking off the wrapping paper, she opens the small box. It has a necklace with a small gemstone on it.  
“Your stone is the same type as your starter… I have one too!” He says, smiling. He takes a small chain around his neck that was originally covered by his shirt. His is the same type as his starter. “It says Postwick on the back… do you like it?” y/n smiles sweetly.  
“Hop… I love it.” She smiles, putting the necklace around her neck. Her cheeks are flushed.   
“Yay! I’m glad!!” He’s grinning ear to ear. “I got it so we could be connected in a way… when you’re out doing Champion stuff and-and I’m at the lab.” His smile fades a bit when he says the last part.   
“Hey, are you okay? I love it, Hop, I’ll wear it all the time.” She stands up, her face is of only concern.  
“Y-Yeah… it’s just-“ He cuts himself off. She notices his eyes getting glossy. “I’m just really going to miss you when we’re done here at the Dojo. This is the most amount of time we’ve spent together in so long.” He says. He rubs his eyes, sighing. y/n takes him in for a hug.   
“I know. It’s okay.” She says. Hop hugs back, burying his face in her shoulder. “I wish I could have spent more time with you before we came here… It’s hard when I have to do so many things now.”   
“I’m going to miss you so much…” He says.   
“I’m going to as well… but I’ll make more time for you, and all my friends.” She says. She separates from him, keeping her hands on him.   
“We could go out with Bede and Marine if you’d like. Or Leon, anyone you want. I’ll make sure I have time for you all.” She says. Hop smiles softly. It’s obvious he cried a little bit.  
“Thank you…” He says, he wipes his face of the tears that fell.   
“Of course. You’re my best friend, after all.” She says. She hugs him again momentarily. “Let’s finish cleaning our room. We’ll make it look nice.” Hop nods and lets go y/n.   
“Yeah, let’s do that.” He smiles.


	3. Chapter 3

10:28 pm, Fields of Honour.

The first day at the Dojo was a difficult one, but rewarding in the end. y/n and Hop finished decorating their room, hanging up various stuff to make it feel more like their own home. Hop had brought fairy lights with him of all things, and now he has the ability to turn these rainbow lights on at his will. It’s expected that he’ll abuse this privilege.   
It’s obvious who’s side is who. Hop’s side is still slightly messy and chaotic in nature. y/n’s side is a little cleaner. Their bags and jackets were put on the back of their chairs, and the suitcases are tucked away in the closet until they leave.   
They were close to finishing when Honey called them in for dinner. Everyone at the table had already been seated besides Klara and Avery, who hadn’t returned after their fit of rage. Avery ended up coming back earlier than Klara, both were angry when they came in. They’re in desperate need of anger management classes.  
The students all had soup. Master Mustard told them all what their task for tomorrow would be; finding Max Mushrooms. Hop seemed extremely curious about this, tuning into this bit of conversation more than the conversation earlier when they first arrived at the Dojo. They were to go out in pairs, but the pairs would be decided by Mustard himself. This made y/n and Hop a little anxious, but they’ll be together the rest of the time, so what’s one activity where they aren’t together when they can spend the rest of the time there together?   
It was dark out already, and the large majority of students had gone to their room. Honey and Mustard came together to Hop and y/n’s room to see how they decorated since Hop wouldn’t shut up about how amazing their room turned out to be.   
Hop opens the door and immediately lands on his bed. y/n was a little more polite and stood up while they entered.  
“Wow, you two! You really got this room looking fantastic!” Honey said. She loved how the room was personalized.   
“Most of the students don’t bother with personalizing their room… their personality is the Dojo!” Mustard says, smiling.   
“Thank you!” Hop says. “Wait watch this… y/n, turn off the lights?” He asks, which y/n promptly does. Hop had already done this at least 7 times for y/n.   
He switches on the fairy lights, which line the wall and the bed frame. Honey gasps in excitement.  
“Gorgeous! Will you two keep them on during the night?” She asks. It was dark, only the light of the fairy lights illuminating everyone. Hop’s eyes reflected them, colour bounced off his eyes. y/n gazed at him a little bit, a bit of pink in her cheeks. Hop looks back at her and smiles brightly. Honey notices this and looks at Mustard. For a moment, they talk to each other through telepathy, it seemed.   
“No, they run on Watts. I’d have to collect more before we use them for a long time.” y/n says. She looks back over at Honey and Mustard, who was in the middle of a conversation without words.  
“Are you two okay?” y/n asks, which promptly made Mustard and Honey snap out of their nonverbal conversation.   
“Yes!” Honey exclaims. “We’re going to head off to bed. You two get some shut-eye, alright?” Hop and y/n nod.  
“Goodnight!” Hop says happily. Both Honey and Mustard walk out, closing the door behind them.   
“They are so clueless,” Honey says, walking down the hall to their bedroom.   
“I’m sure they’ll figure it out. They’ll spend a whole lot of time together here.” Mustard responds, winking. 

A silence passes between the two left in the room for a moment. They kinda just stare at each other sort of intimidatingly for a little bit. Hop’s more confused why y/n won’t stop staring, but y/n is just waiting for him to turn off the fairy lights. Well, that’s more or less an excuse to just look at Hop. She would never admit to that, though.   
“...?” Hop makes a small confused noise.   
“Are you going to turn off the fairy lights?” She asks Hop going “oh!” and turning them off. y/n walks over to the lights and turns them back on. She then goes into the closet and grabs a pair of pyjamas she had put in there not long ago.   
“I’m gonna go change, you should too.” She says, closing the door. Hop sits there for a second, then gets up to get his own pyjamas. He sighs for a second and goes ahead and gets changed.   
y/n comes back soon after, wearing probably the most pyjama looking outfit ever. Her pants were very fuzzy.   
“Love the pants!” Hop says. y/n’s cheeks flush up a little as she sits down on her bed.   
“Thanks, I got them for my birthday… I feel like I’m gonna end up sweating while I sleep. It’s warm in here.” She says. Hop… hops off his bed and turns off the light, keeping the fan on. y/n promptly turns her lamp on.  
“We’ll keep the fan on, I’ll just get more snuggled in my blankets!” He says, going back to his bed. He grabs all the blankets around him and cocoons himself in them. He had become a giant mass of blankets.   
“That’s the best way to sleep. Cold, completely submerged in blanket.” She responds, smiling. Hop nods.  
“I like it when I wake up during the night on nights like that and the heat is on. It’ll be like, the perfect temperature under my blanket, but my face and ears won’t be freezing!” He says.   
“I think if that were the case here my fuzzy pants would have to come off.” She says, laughing. Hop’s cheeks flush up noticeably. y/n notices this and grins.  
“Hop, we’ve known each other since we were, what, 4 years old? I’ve seen you naked.” She says. Hop groans and disappears into his mountain of blankets.   
“It’s different now!!” He exclaims, the sound is muffled.   
“How so?” She says, with a slightly sarcastic tone. Only if Hop could see her smile.   
“It just issss…” He says, peeking the top of his head out of the blanket mountain, just enough to see his eyes. y/n is laughing very very much.   
“Right…” She says, with a grin. Hop lays down on his pillow, grabbing his phone from his side table. y/n leans over to her lamp and turns it off, taking her phone from her nightstand as well. She checks her social media, and some other things before she heads to bed. She got a text from Sonia

Sonia, Hop, y/n

Sonia: Hey you two!! How’s it going so far?

Hop and y/n glance at each other. They wonder if Sonia knows they’re sharing a room.

Hop: It’s been great!!! We’ve already started training and everything :D

Sonia: Fantastic! Are you keeping up with the journal?

y/n: you mean the diary?

Hop: SHUSH I haven’t started it yet because there hasn’t been a lot going on but I’ll update it tomorrow!! We’re going out for Max Mushrooms

Sonia: I’ve heard of those! Bring me back some!

Hop: If we have extras we will!!!!

y/n puts down her phone and plugs it in. She flips over to face the wall, snuggling herself in her blanket.   
“Goodnight, Hop,” She says. Hop looks over at her.  
“Goodnight.” He says. 

Sonia: Anything else you two have done?

Hop: I’ll update you more tomorrow, we’ve gotta sleep

Sonia: Right, right, I’ll let you both go- Goodnight!

Hop: Goodnight!! :D

07:28 am, Fields of Honour.

Both y/n and Hop are abruptly woken up by a mixture of light pouring in from the window, the loud sounds coming from outside their room, and a student, specifically Avery, coming into their room to wake them up.  
“Wake up!” He yells rudely, which makes y/n’s eyes open and glare at Avery. “You two should have been up 28 minutes ago!” He finishes saying, still yelling.  
“How is there sunlight out…” Hop says, scorching up from his bed and rubbing his eyes. He has a serious case of bed head.  
“Perks of living where you do. Now get going!” He says before leaving and slamming the door. Hop and y/n look at each other confused.  
“What a weirdo…” Hop says. y/n jumps from her bed and pats Hop’s hair. He flinches then looks up at her.  
“...What are you doing?” He asks.  
“Your hair is a literal disaster right now.” She says, continuing to pat his hand. It’s slightly better now.  
“Wait! I wanna see!” He leans around her to grab his Rotom phone, opening the camera. She was right, it is a complete disaster.  
“I should go out like this.” He says, grinning. y/n immediately smooshed his hair further, trying to get it back to its former glory. Hop doesn’t really resist.  
“Why is your hair so soft…?” y/n asks curiously. She continues petting his hair, trying to untangle it now.  
“Okay. So, you know Leon’s hair is super long and majestic, right?” He starts, looking at her. She nods.  
“So, he has these super expensive products to make his hair as beautiful and flowing as possible, if it isn’t he doesn’t go out.”  
“So, you steal his expensive hair products?” She says, smirking. He gasps dramatically.  
“No! It’s in a communal area! It’s free reign!” He says loudly.  
“I can’t believe this,” She stops petting his hair and walks over to the closet. “First you steal his suitcase, then his hair products. What else have you stolen from him?” She says, smiling. She takes out her dojo uniform from the closet. Hop stays quiet, trying to claim his innocence.  
“We’re running late, you should get dressed,” She says, leaving the room. This leaves Hop to his own devices. He gets up, stretches, makes a high pitch noise, and gets his uniform. He quickly changes into it and gets his bag, putting his Pokeballs into it. He leaves the room and waits outside the bathroom.  
y/n leaves the bathroom shortly and pats Hop’s hair one last time before walking down the hall, in which Hop quickly goes into the bathroom.  
y/n heads to the communal area, where a couple of people were eating. y/n had brought a few snacks from home and decided just to have what she brought instead. Digging into her bag, she grabs one of the many foods and feasts on the small amount she got before her mission for the day.  
Hop comes out shortly after, sitting down next to her. She glances over at him.  
“You gonna grab something to eat?” She asks, finishing her pseudo breakfast. Hop shakes his head.  
“I’ve got something already…” He goes into his own bag and takes out, not surprisingly, a baked good.  
“So… we went to that bakery and you already had stuff on you?” She asks, an eyebrow raised.  
“I bought a bunch while we were on the train!” He says, immediately putting it all in his mouth.  
“So that’s what you were doing… I thought you just went pee.” She says. Hop starts to respond before getting cut off by Mustard. Everyone had come to the communal area, it seemed.  
“Good morning, everyone!” He says, prompting a good morning from about everyone back. “Is everyone prepared to forage for the Max Mushrooms?” He asks. Multiple students nod.  
“I’ve already selected the pairs you all will be in…” He says, in which he starts listing each pair. Hop and y/n glance at each other.  
After everyone’s name had been said, the grand results of who y/n and Hop would be with were revealed; y/n is with Klara, and Hop with Avery. All parties seem disappointed in the choice, but they had to go with it.  
Klara walks up to y/n, arms crossed. She does not look happy in any sort of way. Mustard approaches them, Avery coming over shortly after.  
“Any problems here?” He asks innocently.   
“No, no. Not at all!” Klara says sweetly. Hop sees a hint of unriddled rage in her eyes.   
“Why… is this the pairs you selected for Klara and I?” He asks. Mustard strokes his chin.  
“y/n and Hop both don’t know the island well… I felt it was only fair to put them with senior members of the Dojo.” He says. Both of them stand up.  
“Just a hint for you both, the forest got ransacked by a swarm of Greedent came through. You may have better luck elsewhere.” Mustard says, winking.  
“Where could he be talking about…” Avery says, walking out the door Hop quickly calls for him to wait up and books out himself.   
A silence passes through Klara and y/n. It’s obvious the two don’t like each other, but Klara is, per usual, being overly dramatic in the matter.   
“Soo… do you know where to look?” y/n asks, Klara shoots her a glare which y/n promptly looked at her curiously for. She thinks for a little bit, actually taking the task seriously, then comes up with the answer.  
“They’d probably be growing in the Warm-Up tunnel, I doubt you know where that is.” She says with a snarky tone.   
“Uh… yeah? That’s why I was paired up with you…?” She says, Klara starts walking off, y/n quickly catching up.   
“Why must you be so…” She says, thinking for a second for a word that would be best appropriate. y/n found this amusing. “Overt! All the time?!” She says. The two walk into the swamp, Klara leading the way. A couple of students are looking around for the mushrooms.  
“I’ve done nothing to you besides beat you in a battle and find your clothes.” y/n says, her arms folded against her chest. “Why are you so overt all the time?”   
Klara enters the forest with her and sighs. A lot more students are looking at her, obviously to no avail. y/n sees Hop and Avery looking, the two making eye contact. y/n mouths “help me” to him, which makes him laugh quietly. He mouths “same” back at her, then continues searching with Avery, clearly arguing.   
“You had to show up, being young and talented…” She says, her hands balled up into fists. The two exit the forest, looks like no students are around here.  
“Why do you even need to be here?!” She exclaims, entering the tunnel. y/n looks incredibly confused.  
“I’m sorry?” She says. The two stop for a second.   
“Why are you here? You’re a champion, is that not enough for you?” She asks, storming off. y/n runs to catch up with her.   
“I was sent here with Hop. He hasn’t been doing so well recently.” She says. ”Sonia, the professor, and I are really worried for him…” She glances down, then sees it. The Max Mushrooms. Klara immediately squeals and runs to pluck them up. She then suddenly stops.   
“What, do you like him or something?”


	4. Chapter 4

09:50 am, Warm-Up Tunnel.

y/n seems fairly embarrassed. She’s a clueless idiot, completely unaware of her feelings. Klara laughs as she walks over to y/n, who was flushed beyond belief.  
“Arceus, I didn’t mean that, haha! You didn’t have to be so obvious!” She says. y/n covers her face.  
“I don’t. I don’t like him.” She says. Klara just laughs more and puts her hand on y/n’s shoulder. y/n peeks through her hands to look at Klara, who was pink in the face from laughing.  
“You are so transparent! You two have heart eyes for each other literally 24/7.” She says. y/n fires back this time.  
“What? Are you and Avery together?” She says, Klara immediately takes offence to it.  
“Ew! No! Have you seen him??” She says. y/n puts her hands down and crosses her arms.  
“How is it any different?” She asks. Klara was beside herself. How can the champion of the Galar region be this oblivious to the obvious crush she has on her best friend?  
“I see the way you two look at each other. Your cheeks flush up every time he calls you the champion or you two have an intimate moment.” She says, making a kissy face. y/n took all of the restraint in her body to not bitch-slap her across the face.  
“He’s my best friend. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She says. She walks over to the Max Mushrooms, starting to grasp around the stem of it.  
“So, your heart doesn’t do that tickle thing every time you both have your intimate moments?” She says, her tone is fairly mocking. This stopped y/n dead in her tracks.  
“...is that what that means?” She asks. Klara’s face turns to one of victory. She walks over to y/n, kneeling down beside her.  
“You truly are oblivious.” Her grin was slightly devious. “Careful with your newfound crush, maybe he’ll be your boyfriend by time you leave.” She says. y/n’s entire face flushed up again, turning away from Klara and taking the mushrooms out of the ground. y/n got up off the ground, putting the mushrooms carefully in her bag.  
“Can we go back now? We’ve found the mushrooms.” y/n says, exhaustedly. Klara has zapped all the energy from y/n.  
“Oh, no, no, no. This is too entertaining.” She says with a huge smile. “Maybe I’ll use this as blackmail.”  
“Such a fantastic idea that you’re telling me your plan.” She says, unamused. The fact that y/n potentially had a crush on Hop wasn’t even the priority anymore. Well, that wouldn’t last for long.  
“I know!” She says, putting her hands on her face cutely. “I’m so glad you turned out to have a crush on him, maybe I’ll actually end up being the Poison-type gym leader!” She says. y/n was about done with Klara.  
“I don’t! I don’t have a crush on him!” She yells.  
“Right! And I don’t have pink hair. Arceus, y/n!” She says. Her face changes, y/n immediately getting nervous.  
“Hi, Avery!” She says, bouncing over to him. Hop, unsurprisingly, was also there.  
“What’s going on? Are you okay..?” Hop asks y/n. After all, she looks like she’s about to pass out, cry, and kill someone all at the same time.  
“Of course! We were discussing her newly fo-“ Klara tries saying before y/n immediately runs over and covers her mouth violently.  
“We found the mushrooms!” y/n says. Both Hop and Avery were beyond confused and weirded out. When did Klara and y/n become so close?  
“Really?! We should go back then!” Hop says, excitedly. Avery had already left, and Hop waits patiently to walk with y/n. Klara had one last thing to say to her, though. She walks over to her.  
“Clearly that blackmail is gonna work out better than I thought.” She whispers, winking.  
“Shut up, Klara.” y/n says. Klara smiles, and walks out of the cave to catch up with Avery. Hop and y/n stand there for a second, kind of staring at each other confused. y/n’s heartbeat was definitely higher than usual, though.  
“Soo… what was that about?” Hop asks. The two had started walking out. Avery and Klara were not far ahead of them.  
y/n sighs. “Klara being Klara. She’s just being annoying.” Hop doesn’t believe that’s the full extent of the truth, but he doesn’t question it too much.  
“I haven’t seen you that worked up in a long while.” Hop says, laughing. “You looked like you were going to die.”  
“Arceus, I thought so.” She says, repositioning her bag. “I would have slapped her if you two didn’t come and save me.”  
Hop laughs sweetly, which immediately makes y/n smile. Then the conversation with Klara comes back. “Dammit, Klara! I do not need to be dealing with this right now!”  
One short walk later, the four of them making it back to the Dojo. Some of the students were talking to Mustard, presumably about how they weren’t able to find any of the Max Mushrooms. Mustard spots the four of them, and smiles. The other students catch on quickly after.  
“Hi, you four! Did you find anything?” He asks. Klara smiles widely.  
“We did! y/n has the mushrooms!” Klara says excitedly. y/n digs into her bag, and takes the mushrooms out and hands them to him.  
“We actually found some too…” Avery says quietly. Hop looks at him confused.  
“What?! You told me you couldn’t find any!!” He says. Avery rolls his eyes obnoxiously.  
“You are difficult to work with. It was for the better.” Avery says. Mustard walks over to him and bonks him on the head with his hand.  
“Be nice and give me the mushrooms!” He says. Avery begrudgingly gives him the mushrooms. “Now, everyone come to the kitchen. We’ll be having the Max soup!”

After a filling meal and Mustard going on and on about every single detail about Max Soup, it was evening and the final trial was upon them. Mustard had called Avery, Klara, Hop, and y/n to his living area to talk to the four of them. Each of them was awkward in their own way. y/n is on the verge of a breakdown because Klara is right there with her supposed deepest darkest secret, which Klara is thoroughly enjoying and Hop and Avery would kill each other in a second if they could.  
Mustard isn’t too oblivious to this, though. He mostly notices y/n. Looks like his discussion with Honey was more realistic than he originally thought.  
“Alright, you four. You all have passed the last challenge. It’s time for the Dojo’s final... last… ultimate… this trial!” He says dramatically. Hop and Klara both react immediately, questioning it. Avery looks unamused.  
“What’s that?” y/n asks. Mustard looks like he’s enjoying this.  
“Each of you will participate in single Dynamax-fuelled battles. Avery against y/n, Hop against Klara. It’ll happen tomorrow in the battle court behind the Dojo!” He says, enthusiastically.  
“Oooh. Avery, you’ve got one hell of a fight against you.” Klara says, nudging him with her elbow.  
“I won’t lose. Your title as Champion means nothing to me.” Avery says, looking at y/n.  
“Right…” She responds.   
“You four better get ready!” He says. Klara and Avery look at each other, then book it out the room. Mustard laughs and looks at the two still standing there.  
“I hope you both will be proper challenges for them both. They both slack off so much… never felt a reason to try, I assume.” He says. Honey peeks into the room, Mustard immediately showing a bright smile.  
“Hi, dear! Are you all done talking to them?” Honey asks. She’s holding two Pokeballs. Mustard nods and gets up.  
“I’ll see you both later. Get ready!” He says. Honey approaches them and hands them both Pokeballs.  
“Take these, I’m sure you’ll like them.” Both Hop and y/n look confused. Hop throws his, releasing the small creature. It’s a Squirtle.  
“Oh!! Thank you so much, Honey!! Maybe next time I rematch Lee I’ll take him down…” He says happily. y/n then throws hers, releasing a Bulbasaur.  
“Awh, hi bud!” She says, picking him up. He makes a small noise of happiness. Hop looks over at y/n.  
“Do you want to go exploring with them?” Hop asks. y/n immediately beams in excitement as she says yes enthusiastically.  
“Be careful, you two!” Honey says happily. y/n and Hop leave the Dojo, y/n bringing her bike with her. Hop questions this choice.  
“Why’d you bring that?” He asks. y/n smiles suspiciously and puts their Bulbasaur and Squirtle in the basket on the front of the bike. y/n then goes onto it.  
“Get on,” She says, Hop seems even more confused. “How?” He asks.  
“Here.” She says, pointing to a bar on the bike. Hop swallows, then walks over lifting himself up and putting his feet on the bars. He’s right behind y/n.  
“Alright… let’s get going!” She says, starting to peddle. She takes off down the hill and across the bridge, Hop looking at the scenery as they rush by everything on the island. She takes a right turn, going into the swamp.  
“This was a good idea!” Hop says, smiling brightly. He looks at all the Pokémon in this area, dotting the vast ecosystem in this area.  
“I know it would! Hold on, we need to cross this river! She says, driving directly into it. The little floats fill up, quickly getting them across. Hop seemed like he just died.  
“y/n! That wasn’t safe when you have me and two children on board!” He says. She rushes down to the beach, stopping slowly and parking her bike.  
“Is that what they are?” She asks. She takes out her Bulbasaur and places him on the ground. “Let’s go, bud.” Hop then takes out his Squirtle, walking alongside y/n.  
“This place really is gorgeous…” Hop says. He looks around as he strolls down the beach with her, soaking in all of the sun shining down on them. Hop’s smile is priceless. y/n looks at him for a moment, feeling that same tickle in her heart.  
“Is that really what this is..?” She thinks to herself. She sighs softly. “I’ll think about it tonight.”

09:37 pm, Fields of Honour. 

Another long day had passed. After their not-so-romantic walk on the beach, they went back to the Dojo for their final meal. Klara was eyeballing y/n stared the entire time, which she promptly started back in a state of pure intimidation. Everyone at the table noticed it, and no one understood this sudden bond between the two if it can even be called that.   
y/n and Hop had gone back to their bedroom, already changed and ready to head to sleep. They quietly sat on the floor, doing their own things. y/n was answering emails about future events she’ll attend, and Hop is writing in his “journal”.  
The fairy lights are on and the two were growlingly tired. They knew they would have to go to sleep soon, considering the battle they had to do tomorrow morning. y/n got up and turned off her lamp. This promptly gave Hop a reaction.  
“I can’t see now…” He whined.   
“We gotta go to sleep, you’re going up against Klara. She’s gonna go after where it hurts.” She says lightheartedly.  
“My feelings…?” He questions. He gets up and puts his journal on his desk.   
“Absolutely. You don’t wanna get flustered out there!” She says. Hop sighs, then turn off the fairy lights.   
“Okie Dokie.” He says, crawling into bed. “Goodnight, y/n!”   
“Goodnight!”  
Little does Hop know, y/n is going to ponder whether or not she has massive and unbearable feelings for her best friend.   
She had never considered that the “tickle” Klara had mentioned was a crush. She kind of assumed that they would stay best friends forever. Well, that could still be the case.   
“Would I even have time to be with him, even if I did like him?” She thinks. She thinks of the “even”.   
She turns over to Hop. He had already fallen asleep, facing her. His face looked peaceful. She had slept in the same bed as him many times, yet she never thought once to see what he looks like sleeping. It’s cute.  
A sigh escapes her mouth. Yeah, maybe she did have a crush on Hop. Maybe she has had a crush on Hop for a while. A lot longer than she realized. She couldn’t quite pinpoint when it started. When the Gym Challenge started? Earlier? Later? It didn’t really matter now.   
She felt her heart flutter when she thought about what would happen if the two were to be together. She wouldn’t indulge herself too much, it’s unrealistic anyway.   
She looks at him one last time before going to sleep. That was the last confirmation that she, indeed has a crush on him. Klara was right. She hated that. She turned over, facing the wall. Better off to sleep now and process it more later. Such a major discovery will take some time to figure out.

Hop wakes up from a short bit of sleep. He woke up extremely parched. If he didn’t get something to drink, he would die. He laid in bed for a second, staring at the wall, then getting up and grabbing his Rotom phone. He turns it on, turning the flashlight and seeing the time… 11:43 pm. Not super late, but everyone would be asleep by now. He leaves the room and goes down the hall and into the kitchen. He flicks the light on and grabs a glass, immediately filling it with water and downing it in seconds.   
Much better. He refilled the glass and as he’s going back to his room, of all people, Master Mustard appears out of nowhere. Hop, that moment, died. Well, not really. But he did drop the glass of water, making the water spill everywhere. It’s a miracle that the glass didn’t shatter.   
“Oh my Arceus! I’m so sorry!” Hop exclaims, which immediately makes Mustard shush him. It’s only fair, everyone else was sleeping. “I’ll clean this up…” He says, grabbing paper towels from the counter and laying them on the ground to soak up the water.  
“No no, that’s fine. I’m the one that scared you, after all.” He says, picking up the paper towels completely soaked and throwing them away. He then finishes getting all the water up, then refills Hop’s glass.  
“Thank you…” He says, taking a sip from it. Yelling sorry put a little strain on his throat. “Why are you up?” Hop asks.  
“I needed a drink and I noticed you were up. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” Mustard says. Hop raises an eyebrow.  
“And..?” Hop says. Mustard laughs lightly.  
“How do you feel about y/n?” Mustard asks. Hop seems pretty confused. Why would he be asking this?  
“I’m sorry?” Hop asks. “She’s the champion and my best friend… what else do I say about that?” Hop asks. Mustard seems to be enjoying this interaction.  
“Hmm… should I put this in plain words?” Mustard asks. Hop dramatically leans over “Yes, please.”  
“You seem to have feelings for her,” Mustard says as flatly as possible. Hop immediately dies.   
“What?!” He says, flustered beyond belief and stumbling backwards. He had put his glass of water down. Best not to spill another glass. “No, I don’t! What are you talking about?!” Mustard immediately shushes him for being way too loud for pretty much midnight at this point.  
“You should see the look on your face. Priceless!” He says, laughing. “It’s okay if you do. You were going to figure it out one way or another.” Hop stops for a second and thinks about it.  
“So… if I do, what am I supposed to do about it..? She’s the champion, after we’re all done here I probably won’t see her for a long time…” He trails off. His voice became sadder and sadder as he continued speaking.  
“I’m not so sure about that.” He says, winking. “Play your cards correctly, and you’ll be surprised by the results.” Hop looks confused again. He sighs and picks up his glass.  
“Could I go back to sleep? This is… a lot to process.” He says. Mustard nods, letting him go back to his room.  
Hop opens the door to their bedroom. y/n slept peacefully on the bed. He feels his face flush up a bit, then proceeds to slap his face with both his hands. It’s practically midnight, no time for that.  
He puts his glass on his nightstand and crawls into bed. Just like y/n, he quietly ponders whether or not he does like her.   
He thinks less in concrete words, however. He just comes to the conclusion that maybe he does. Maybe he doesn’t. Hop doesn’t have the self-awareness to figure it out, really. Better to sleep on it then spend all night trying to figure it out.

The next morning. It’s still dark out, kind of. There’s barely light peaking into their room right now. Hop wakes up first, since this time he actually set an alarm. As soon as he hears it, he immediately grumbles so loudly that it also wakes up y/n. She says up in her bed, stretching violently. Hop looks over at her, suddenly remembering what Mustard said last night.   
He turns away from her, sort of hiding his face in a hopefully non-obvious way. y/n hasn’t quite processed that she is awake and does have a crush on Hop. What a bunch of idiots.   
Hop jumps out of his bed and grabs his uniform. “Good morning!” He says, trying not to be obvious. y/n gives him a grumble back. It’s way too early for this shit.  
“How do you have that much energy..?” She groans, stretching again and making an attempt to get out of bed. She’s beyond tired.   
“I have a fight to fight, mate!” He says. y/n yawns, squeaking slightly in the process. This makes Hop’s face flush up a bit, then proceeds to leave the room.  
Hop is currently an absolute disaster! Mentally, he’s going insane because of what Mustard said while thinking her yawn was cute. Physically, he is going into the bathroom to change into his dojo uniform.   
y/n was still a groggy mess in their room. She stood up from her bed and got her dojo uniform, putting it on with the minimal amount of energy she has. She takes her Pokeballs from her desk and puts them in her bag.  
Hop leaves the bathroom, trying to gain composure. Can’t be like this while fighting against Klara. As soon as he walks past their bedroom, he walks headfirst in y/n. Fantastic! He stumbles back for a moment, regaining balance soon after.   
“Hop! Are you okay?” y/n immediately asks, putting her arms against her chest. Hop looks a bit out of it, but he’s been like that since he woke up.   
“Mmm, yeah I’m fine.” He says, fairly nonchalantly. y/n smiles back.   
“Let’s go get breakfast, we’ll need something more filling today.” y/n says, Hop following along shortly behind her. They make their way to the kitchen, where Klara, Avery, and a few other students are sitting. Avery gives them both a death glare, contrasting with Klara’s huge, devious smile. She waves them over. Hop seems fairly content sitting over with them. y/n not so much. She does it anyway.  
“Gooood morning, you two!” She says, entertaining her fingers and putting her head on them. “How are you?”   
“Tired…” y/n says. “I’m going to get Hop and I some food.” She says, immediately taking off.  
“Did you say something to her?” Hop asks curiously.  
“Maybe! Doesn’t matter too much, you’ll be going home after I crush you on the battlefield!” She says enthusiastically. y/n comes back over with breakfast. Hearty enough, it’ll last them past noon.   
“Does Avery have any hot takes on today?” y/n asks sarcastically. She may hate Klara, but she would take down Avery in a battle no problem and still hate him after.   
“I have no interest participating in whatever you three have going.” He says flatly.   
“Avery, you don’t need to be so rude…” Klara says, slapping him on the back. Neither Hop nor y/n could figure out what kind of relationship/friendship/enemyship they have going. Maybe it’s an enemies to lovers thing… too bad the story isn’t about them.   
Hop proceeds to, as usual, consume his entire meal in under a minute. It still shocks y/n how Hop can do that, and she’s known him since what? When they were five?   
“Arceus… I can’t stand this.” Avery says, immediately leaving. Klara giggles as she takes some of the food from her place with her and chases after Avery, presumably to harass him more.  
“So,” y/n starts. “What’s your plan against Klara? She’s mostly poison types.” Hop looks through his bag, seeing what he has.   
“Well, I’ll probably stick to using Corviknight. Snorlax… I think that should be fine.” He says. y/n smiles at him.  
“That confident you’ll win?” She says. Hop smiles back.  
“Of course. I may not win against you, but I can win against a lot of people.” He says.   
“Mm, I’m still sure you can beat me. It seems I have fairly good luck.” She says. Hop laughs at that.  
“Sure. I’m just that talented.” Hop says sarcastically. This makes y/n frown, but she doesn’t want to ruin the mood.  
“You are! I’m serious!” She says. Hop laughs again, clearly not believing her in any way. She would attempt to argue more, but by time she tries, she’s being called out for the battle.  
“y/n! It’s time!” Honey says, peaking into the kitchen.   
“Coming!” She chimes. “See you soon, Hop!” She says, smiling.  
“Good luck!”

02:58 pm, Fields of Honour.

y/n sits in Mustard’s office patiently. She had already finished her battle with Avery, which the results turned out to be an unsurprising victory. Even with his dynamaxed Slowbro, he was no challenge to a champion. Maybe next time around, Avery can tone down his ego.   
The opportunity of peace and quiet without anyone around was rare at the dojo. She likes to have some time alone every once and a while, but she’s been loving her time with Hop, even if she does have a crush on him. Spending time with her best friend is something she would never take for granted. 

Hop wiped the sweat from his brow. The environment around him was hot, very hot. He had taken down Klara’s last Pokémon, and he won. It was a margin that he wasn’t very comfortable with it and it was too close, but he still won without a problem, even with Klara cheating.   
Both Avery and Klara were spending six months cleaning the dojo as punishment. Apparently, cheating is okay as long as you want to win bad enough. He was told to go to Mustard’s office after the battle, which worries him. What if he hounds him again about possibly liking y/n? It isn’t exactly something he’d like to deal with, but he goes anyway.   
He goes into the office and sees y/n patiently waiting on the couch. She turns around as soon as she hears steps behind her and beams when she realizes it’s Hop. Hop walks over and sits next to her dramatically, trying to get the exhausted feeling out of his body. It’s barely 3 pm, how could he be this exhausted?  
“How’d it go?” y/n asks.   
“I won!” He says, as enthusiastically as he could considering his current predicament. “I mean, it was closer than I would have liked, but a win’s a win. How about you?”   
“I completely annihilated him. I guess his ego was a little too bloated, I’m glad I got to tame that for him.” She says with a giant smile.   
“That’s awesome! I’m proud of ya, mate.” He says.   
“I’m proud of you too!” She says. Hop seems to really take that personally. He needs it said to him more often.  
It wasn’t much longer until Master Mustard came into his office. He says hi to the both of them, then sits down in his chair. He’s holding two Pokeballs.   
“First off, congratulations you two! You both aced the final challenge.” He says, beaming. “You two will both get your own secret armours’.” Hop and y/n still have no idea what the secret armours’ are, but at this point, they’re expecting Pokémon since, well, two Pokeballs.  
Mustard tosses both the Pokeballs, releasing two small Pokémon. Neither of them had seen them before, they must be native to the Isle of Armour. They both seem curious, and all of a sudden, they start displaying their ability to fight.   
Bouncing around the room, they play fight with each other and display their capability. y/n and Hop smile as they watch the two Pokémon play about. Mustard laughs as he watches them.  
They then line up next to each other in front of y/n and Hop. Both of the two have a little ribbon tied around their wrist. One black, the other blue.   
“These both are Kubfus!” Mustard says happily. The one with the blue ribbon makes a small noise.  
“They’re both so cute!” y/n says. She reaches her hand out, the one with the blue ribbon putting its… paw? Hand? In her hand. She immediately chokes up. “Hop! Look!” She says happily.  
“Clearly that one chose you!” Hop says happily. Mustard laughs.  
“I won’t get ahead of myself, but yes,” Mustard says. “They both have incredible potential. They may be tiny, but they can fight no problem.”   
“Oh! It reminds me of our starters!” Hop says happily. “Remember how small they were?” y/n nods, smiling happily.   
“These two have incredible potential. Thing is, they’re very sheltered. They’re shy around most everyone. I’m surprised they’ve been as friendly as they are with you both!” Mustard says. The one with the black ribbon seems a lot more timid and shy.   
“The one with the blue ribbon is for you, y/n. And the one with the black ribbon, for you, Hop!” He says. Hop reaches out his hand for his Kubfu, which cautiously reaches out for him.   
“You two both become best friends with your Kubfus! You two will go to spots all around the island to bond with them… after that, come to me! I’ll elaborate on the ribbon colours then.” Mustard hands them both pokeballs coloured accordingly to the ribbons on the Kubfus, Hop getting the black one and y/n getting the blue one. “The rest of the day is yours, do what you’d like.”   
y/n and Hop nods then leave, going out to the main hallway. They go out to the main room, kind of just standing there.   
“What’re your plans now?” Hop asks curiously. “I’m personally exhausted. I think I’m gonna chill out until tomorrow.”   
“Yeah, I’ll do the same thing.” She says, yawning aggressively and stretching her arms above her head. “ I haven’t needed to actually worry about a battle in a long time. Avery was easy, but I actually had to think about it.”   
“Mmh, that makes sense.” He says the two sit down on the steps down to the main mat. He also yawns. “How can I be this tired… it isn’t even that late.”   
“Did Klara say anything to you?” y/n asks. She’s slightly worried that Klara split the beans on her all of a sudden crush. Hop didn’t seem very awkward, but she isn’t sure what his response would be this being the case.  
“Hmm, nothing out of the ordinary. She tried getting under my skin, but it wasn’t the most successful attempt.” He says drowsily.   
“...alright.” She responds. I guess it’s just a matter of hoping for the best.   
“Bede’s attacks were worse, haha. I’m sure she’s over herself by now, though. Like him.”   
“Oh, really? You must’ve really annihilated her into the ground.” y/n says.  
“Hm, enough so for her to give me her league card.” He says, digging it out of his pocket. It showcased her with what can be assumed to be a paper cutout of a Slowbro. It fit her well enough.  
“I got Avery’s too. He’s still as awful as ever, though,” She says, this time taking out her card from Avery. It seemed to showcase the same Slowbro cutout as Klara.   
“You think they’re dating?” Hop asks curiously.   
“I actually asked Klara! She adamantly denied him, and I quote ‘Ew! No! Have you seen him?’” y/n says in a tone that mocked Klara very obviously. She’s lucky Klara isn’t in the same room right now.   
The two continue talking, just chitchatting about random things. Hop, once again, is extremely tired. He eventually just put his head on her shoulder, completely disregarding the crush Mustard had brought up the previous night.  
“Hop? You good?” y/n asks, trying her best to keep her composure. She may or may not just melt this very moment.  
“I’m so tired…” He says. “I don’t want to move.” He says.   
“Okay.” She says quietly. Better off not moving for now.   
Klara and Avery come in from doing whatever they were doing, Avery ignoring what was going on with Hop and y/n. Klara, however, seems amused. She smiles, making faces at y/n. y/n, in retaliation, does a slicing motion across her neck. Klara laughs quietly and leaves to go into the kitchen.  
How the hell is y/n supposed to survive like this?


	5. Chapter 5

11:49 am, Soothing Wetlands.

“Come oooonnnn, y/n!” Hop whines, holding the door open for her. The two were going out sightseeing today, bonding with their Kubfus was the priority right now.   
“I’m on my way, Hop! Arceus!” She says, smiling. Her bag was filled to the brim, full of snacks and various other things they’ll need while exploring. However, they only had their Kubfus today, no other Pokemon. y/n finally makes her way out of the door, Hop closing it as soon as she was out.   
“You have no idea how heavy that door is,” Hop says dramatically. y/n just laughs.   
“Sure!” She says. “Put your Kubfu in the basket.” She grabs her bike from the wall, propping it up and putting her own Kubfu in the basket. He chirps happily, waiting for his friend to join him in the basket. Hop places his Kubfu in the basket, the black-ribboned Kubfu seeming more shy compared to her blue counterpart.   
y/n gets on the bike, Hop following shortly after behind her. She takes off, dashing into the Soothing Wetlands.  
“Where’d you wanna go first?” y/n asks, digging into the basket in front of her and taking out his Rotom phone. She hands it to Hop. He pulls up a map on his phone, looking around on the island. He pinpointed a few places they should visit before leaving.  
“Let’s go to Challenge Road, we can knock out two of our places going there.” He says. y/n nods, turning into the forest. Leaves brush by Hop’s head, him ducking down and getting level with y/n.   
“You enjoying yourself?” y/n asks snarkily. Hop rolls his eyes.  
“Yup! I love being assaulted by tree branches every seven seconds.” He says, which he promptly gets attacked by another one. He grumbles, getting closer to y/n’s back. The physical intimacy would have killed him by now if he wasn’t more concerned about the looming threat of being murdered by tree branches.   
They exit the forest, Hop sighing and getting himself back up to his normal position and looking around.   
“Where do I turn now?” y/n asks. Hop points in the other direction, the one going up the hill. They see a giant tower looming at the top of it, along with a few of the students that Mustard had mentioned before they left, they’ll be at the best spots on the entire island.   
y/n reaches the peak of the mountain, propping her bike up against a large rock before taking both Kubfus out. y/n’s seems exhilarated, but Hop’s is more shaken up from the ride. Hop gets off too, seemingly excited to take a look around.  
“I haven’t been to this part of the island before…” He says. He looks around, taking in the entire area. “I guess we’ll just experience the view with our Kubfus?” y/n nods.  
Hop puts his Kubfu on his shoulders, the paws on her holding onto Hop. y/n smiles, letting her Kubfu follow behind her shortly.   
y/n kind of just… looks at the student standing where the sight is. The student gestures to it, both looking off into the distance.   
“How far down do you think that is?” Hop asks.   
“...far. That’s a measurement of distance.” y/n says, picking up her Kubfu to let him get a better view. “How do you feel about that, bud?”   
The Kubfu makes a small noise out of happiness, then turns around in her arms. She holds him with his arms on his shoulder.  
“Where next, Hop?” y/n asks. If she weren’t more distracted by how cute her Kubfu is, she would probably be crying because this can definitely be taken in a date-way.   
“Let’s go to the Potbottom Desert, it’s pretty close by.”

They finally reached their last destination of the day. The sun was overhead, beaming into the cave they were in, reflecting from the water onto the cave ceiling. It’s by far the prettiest place they’ve been today, but all of them were close contenders.  
y/n stopped the bike, propping it against the cave wall. They were about ready to go back but needed a quick snack before the trek.   
The two walk over to a ledge, water flowing through a few feet below. y/n puts her bag between them, opening it up and taking her food from it. Hop follows to do this shortly after.  
“What time is it?” Hop asks quietly. y/n turns to him, then proceeds to dig through her bag to find her phone.   
“...5:23 pm.” She says. “Do you want to watch videos?”   
“Sure!” He says with a smile, then proceeding to shove his entire snack into his smile. The video watching continues for a good bit, just hanging out. Their Kubfus do their own thing behind them, getting friendlier by the minute.  
An ad, one with y/n, comes on. Hop kind of remembers everything at that moment.  
“Oh my god. That’s so embarrassing, let me skip this.” She says cheeks flushed. She skips, it a few moments pass before Hop chooses to speak.  
“...Hey, y/n?” Hop says quietly. His legs dangled from the edge of the rock, the water below them.. y/n glances over at him curiously.   
“Hm?” She… says? Their Kubfus are playing sweetly behind them, bonding with each other. Hop looks nervous.  
“Can I talk about something?” He says, smiling weakly. “I think I need to get it off my chest.”   
“Of course, Hop. I’m always here for you.” She responds, smiling sweetly. She puts her phone down on the cold rock, making a small noise when the glass meets the rock’s surface. Hop’s cheeks flush up a bit. What poor timing for him to remember his conversation with Mustard.  
“How do I say this… I feel really weak, as a trainer?” He starts, looking at her. She nods in response. “I… think I’ve felt that way for a while.” y/n looks concerned.  
“Haha…” A worrying laugh escapes from  
Hop. “I don’t even know if I’m good enough to be a professor. It was a whim decision in the first place, I don’t know what I expected… I’m sorry I’m letting this all out on you now.” y/n puts her arm on his shoulder. Both of them freak out at this sudden form of interaction.  
“Hop, I… I know I stole your dream from you. I’m truly so sorry, I really am.” She says, with a pained look on her face. “Do… you not like studying under Sonia?” A silence passes between the two.  
“...Is that why we’re here together? I knew you weren’t doing well… but you never told me why.” She finishes saying. Hop’s eyeline was beaded with tears. It wouldn’t take a lot to make him cry.  
“N-no… I like studying under Sonia. It’s nice and I love learning that stuff, I always have…” He says, a few tears stream down his face. “I… this kind of links back up to the conversation we had when we first got here. I missed you so much.”   
“I know. And I promise I’ll make an active effort to be around everyone more often.” She pauses. “I’m sure it hurt Bede and Marnie too.”   
“It’s not just that though!” He says slightly loudly, echoing a bit through the cave. “I’m scared you’ll disappear again. I don’t want to be lonely, Arceus, How much lonelier can I get?!” y/n was slightly taken aback. She glances at the necklace he got for the both of them.  
“Hop… I know I hurt you. If I could go back and fix it, I absolutely would.” Her cheeks flush up a bit as tears start to pile up in her eyes. “You mean the absolute world to me. You know me better than anyone. I wish I could have visited you more… it’s a struggle being this busy.”   
Hop gasped for hair quietly before looking down at his hands. “Do you mean that?” He says quietly. y/n smiles gently at him, nodding. She then takes him into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder. She could hear him quietly crying.   
“I couldn’t have a better best friend and rival. You’re a wonderful trainer and I’m sure you’ll make a fantastic professor.” She says. The Kubfus had stopped playing, wondering if their trainers were okay.  
“y/n? Would it be okay… if I took a few days separate?” He says. y/n feels her heart drop, her frown more obvious than earlier. “I… need a few days to process some things.”  
“Of course,” She says, smiling sadly. “Do what’s best for you. I’ll be here when you’re ready.” She says. Hop doesn’t seem particularly happy about it either. He gets up, and waves goodbye, taking his Kubfu with him. y/n stays, waiting for him to leave her eyesight.   
“What am I supposed to do now…?” She says. She leans back, laying down on the cave floor. Kubfu gets on top of her and lays down. She strokes his back, the tears finally spilling out and running down her cheek, just to hit the cave floor. 

07:47 pm, Fields of Honour.

It’s been a week since y/n and Hop last spoke. The two were off training their Kubfus, trying to get them to roughly level 70 before taking on the towers they were assigned. Master Mustard talked to them both individually and brought them to their towers, and he definitely noticed a difference in both of their behaviours. More so in Hop, y/n had learned how to handle this sort of situation is becoming the Champion.   
Since most of their time was spent outside training against other Pokémon, specifically high-experience dropping ones, they never saw each other often. They’d occasionally see each other inside, but no interactions happened between the two. y/n was upholding Hop’s request, even if it did kill her inside every time she wanted to talk to him.   
Hop spent the large majority of his time hiding away in various obscure parents of the islands. When she would come to her room after dinner, Hop either wasn’t there or was already asleep. Klara and Avery made attempts to talk to him, curiously enough they both were worried about him. He wouldn’t budge, either not saying anything or saying nothing was wrong.   
During dinners now, Hop is never there. Even if y/n didn’t show up half the time training her Kubfu, his absence was consistent. It sucked, she knew how much Hop would have liked to eat some of the dinners that were being made. y/n thought about saving them for him, putting them in the fridge for Hop. But after a few days, people picked up that Hop wouldn’t be coming and they would just eat what would have been his portion.   
It stresses y/n a good bit, but she didn’t know what Hop is currently going through. He always said what was on his mind, he can’t bottle his feelings for the life of him. But, she knew he is hiding something. Not sure what, but it was absolutely something. She hopes Hop knows that he can tell her anything. It definitely doesn’t help that she has confirmed she absolutely has feelings for him, but at this point, there’s no more denying it.   
She was able to pinpoint when it first started: when the gym challenge first started. She felt like a complete idiot for not realizing it sooner, but that’s what happens when two stupid oblivious people fall in love with each other. She was always busy, focusing on getting better so she could defeat Lee that she never really focused on her feelings for Hop.   
After becoming Champion and becoming busy literally nonstop, it only got worse. She knew that, she knew she missed Hop more than anything during her time before coming to the Isle of Armour. She just never realized those feelings were not solely platonic.   
She often wondered if Hop had the same feelings as her right now. It wouldn’t be the first time. The two never really were interested in dating anyone, besides the time y/n had feelings for Hop for a solid week, coincidently the same time he got asked out by someone at school. He made an attempt, but it was a complete and utter disaster. Even so, y/n didn’t talk to him for a grand total of nine hours out of sheer pettiness and slight heartbreak, as heartbreaking as it could be for someone as young as them at the time. Something similar happened to Hop, him catching feelings for y/n, but this time it faded into obscurity.   
The feelings sucked and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. In the best-case scenario, they would end up together. y/n wasn’t sure what to make of that, though. They had been best friends their entire lives since they were babies. Hop’s mom and y/n’s mom knew each other in school, it was only a matter of time the two would become friends. But, that best-case scenario would be only if Hop liked her back, first of all.   
She had thought about it so much, and halfway through the week, she consulted local romance expert, Klara. She felt she was aiming low going to Klara, anyone would have been better. But, she was desperate. Very, very desperate.   
She knocked on Klara’s door gently. It was early, but late enough Avery wouldn’t be there. Even so, she already saw Avery once this morning, trying to get people awake.   
Klara opened the door, expecting literally anyone but y/n. She was taken aback at first, wondering why she was here.   
“What’re you doing here?” She interrogated. y/n may burst, she couldn’t believe she was doing this.   
“I…” She took a deep breath. “Can we talk in your room?” She asked. Klara peeked out of her door, looking at both sides of the hall. Not a prank, a genuine question.  
“Alright..?” Klara said, letting y/n into her room. Klara closed the door behind her. “So? What are you doing here?”  
y/n is silent for a second. “You were right.” She mumbled. Klara tried to keep a laugh in.  
“Uh, yeah. I know.” She said nonchalantly. “So? You need advice on your super romantic love confession to him?”   
“...no.” She says, more in a normal tone. “He… he won’t talk to me. I don’t know why right now.” She said, sighing. Klara isn’t quite sure what to make of this.  
“That’s vague. Do you have anything you can tell me? I kinda feel bad for you.” She said. y/n scowled at her.   
“I already told you I knew he wasn’t doing well… but I think that may be more true than I first thought.” She frowned “He doesn’t feel very secure with himself, I don’t think. But, he’s hiding something from me. He never hides anything from me!” She said. Klara intensely assessed the situation.  
“Well, clearly he likes you back.” She said. y/n’s face immediately goes flush.   
“I’m- I’m not so sure about that…” y/n mumbles.   
“Are you going to let me help you or not, y/n?” She said, crossing her arms. y/n let out a sigh.  
“Fine. Suppose he does like me. What the hell am I supposed to do about that? That’s… so much.”   
“Why?” Klara asked.  
“‘Why’”?” y/n repeated.  
“Yeah. Why is it so much? I assume you two have caught feelings for each other at some point, everyone knows you both have known each other for your entire lives.” Klara finally said. y/n paused, thinking about it for a second. Why was it ‘too much’? She already promised Hop they would be spending more time together, it’s just as real for them to go on dates.   
“Oh, looks like I hit the right spot,” Klara said, triumphantly.   
“Yeah, you did…” She sighs. “I still don’t know what to do. He won’t talk to me. Not since after he dumped his feelings on me.” y/n said   
“I truly doubt this will last for very long,” Klara said. “Just wait it out.”   
y/n is silent for a moment before signing. “Alright. I hope this doesn’t last for much longer…” She said. “Thanks for helping me out.”  
“No problem, love bird.”  
And for the next few days, she waited. She continued training, a bit more focused now that she had figured everything out. She hasn’t figured out when to ask him out, but it’ll happen before she leaves. Hopefully, everything plays smoothly until then.   
Unfortunately for everyone reading this, this is absolutely not the case. y/n is once again, being an idiot.   
The week had passed since Hop cut contact with y/n and this is the first time she had seen him awake for a long while. y/n had grown impatient.   
Everyone was in the dining room eating. Hop’s plan is to sneak in during dinner, get dressed in his pyjamas clothes, and try to go to bed early. Unfortunately for him, y/n didn’t have plans to eat dinner either.  
He leaves the bathroom after changing and getting ready for bed when he sees y/n coming down the hall. He immediately freezes like a deer caught in headlights.  
y/n did too, for that matter. They kind of just stared at each other for a moment.  
“Hop…” She mumbles, looking down at the ground with a pained expression. “How much longer is this going to take?” Her voice is hush. Hop stays silent for a moment.   
“...I don’t know.” He says. He looks like he’s about to cry. He hasn’t been enjoying this experience in the slightest.   
“I miss you.” She says. That got Hop, he started crying. y/n immediately notices, wanting to go to him and comfort him. She doesn’t, she doesn’t know how much space he needs.  
“I-I do too.” He says, wiping his eyes. “...can we do this another time? I’ve had a rough day.” He says. y/n nods, Hop promptly going into their room. It’s quiet now, only the slight chatty noise from the kitchen keeping it from piercing her ears from how quiet it is.   
She forgot what she was doing down here in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it only gets worse from here boys


	6. Chapter 6

02:17 am, Fields of Honour.

Hop wakes up from his sleep. It was extremely dark, and all he heard was the breathing coming from y/n. He wasn’t sure why he woke up, but not much worth figuring that out now that he’s fully awake.  
He grabs his Rotom phone from his nightstand and turns it on. He flinches and squints at the sudden bright light. 2:17 am. How fantastic. He puts his phone back down and stares at the ceiling.  
He’s been thinking a lot about what Master Mustard say a little over a week ago. About liking y/n. He never put the pieces together before. It’s difficult when he felt abandoned by her and crushed when she defeated him at the Championship. But, this feeling was there since he was younger.  
He turns over to face y/n. Her face gently slept on the pillow, her blankets brought up against her neck. She seemed cold. His gaze was fixed onto her and that tickle came back. The flutter he kept feeling over all these years that he thought was normal for a best friend rivalship. He had done everything with her. How come he was only noticing now?  
He sighs. “This is going to suck.” He thinks to himself. “I… really am in love with her.” It’s not like he didn’t already know that. He is well aware of the crush that he has had, even if it was only brought to light by Mustard. It’s just now, being right across from her, he figured out he’s in love with her. No wonder it stung so much more than anything else when she was never able to visit him.  
He yawned and got up from his bed. He needed to escape from this room. He took his Rotom phone, turning the flashlight on as soon as he closed the door behind him to their bedroom, and walked down to the bathroom. He opened the door, turning on the lights, then closing the door when he’s in there. He turns off the flashlight.  
He sits on the closed toilet and puts his knees on his legs, his hands on his face. What is he supposed to tell her when he does confess? She would be far too busy to even consider him as a partner even if she likes him back. He feels small tears welling up in his eyes.  
He gets onto his phone for distraction. Might as well since he’s already up. Not much was happening, he had texted Sonia a few times just to catch her up on what’s going on, and he texted y/n a couple of times asking where she was before everything happened. Leon texted him the other day, but not much came from it. Little hard to reply to “How’s it going?” when he’s in the middle of a light crisis.  
. He sighed and wiped his eyes. His chest stung a little bit. Bored and wanting to go back to sleep, he left the bathroom and turned off the lights. Going back to his room, he stood for a second before sitting down on his bed. y/n was still softly sleeping, she seemed peaceful.  
On impulse, he walked over to her bed. He gently shook her arm, making an attempt to wake her up. It took a few seconds, but she eventually woke up. She yawned, immediately making Hop panic. What the hell did he expect from this?  
“...Hop?” y/n quietly asks. More or less a confirmation of who is there.  
“... I’m sorry I woke you up-“ He manages to get out, fidgeting with his hands. “I don’t- I don’t feel great… would it be okay if I just- I don’t want to be alone.” He manages to get it all out. y/n scoots over a bit.  
“It’s fine, Hop, we’ve slept in the same bed thousands of times before.” She says. Hop sighs and lays next to her. She pulls the covers up over both of them.  
“...Are you okay? We can talk now if you want.” y/n asks.  
“Would that be okay?” He asks. y/n smiles softly, but Hop can’t see it. He can only see the outline of her from the moonlight spilling in from the window.  
“I don’t mind. We’re both already awake now.” She says, a small laugh escaping as well. This makes Hop feel a little bit better.  
“Alright.” He starts softly. “...I’m trying to sort through a lot of stuff right now.”  
“I know… Are you feeling better now?” She asks. Hop sighs softly.  
“I feel better, but I’m not done sorting everything out. I’m done isolating, though.” He says.  
“I’m glad you feel better. I missed you a lot… it sucks not being able to talk to you, especially when you’re right there, across the room from me.” She says softly. She sounds relieved.  
“I missed you too…” He says, sounding tired. Their time to sleep was approaching quickly. “Is it okay if I hug you?”  
“Of course.” She says. Hop gets closer to her, wrapping his arms around her, his head by her shoulder. “Do you want to go to the towers together tomorrow?” She asks. Hop nods.  
“I think Master Mustard will be the final challenge in those temples.” He says. “I’ll go first… my Kubfu is over-levelled now.” He says, a small laugh escaping.  
“Alright. That sounds good.” She says. “I’m going to sleep now.”  
“Okay, goodnight… thank you.” He says quietly.  
“You're always welcome.” She says, smiling. 

A fair few hours later, the two woke up to the alarm from y/n’s phone. y/n wakes up first, her eyes not really fluttering open, more the opposite unflattering version. She hasn’t quite absorbed the fact she is in the same bed as Hop, since if it happens during the night, no one is going to remember that until a few moments later.   
Like said, until a few moments pass, y/n is unaware of Hop clinging to her for dear life. She goes to grab her phone, then realizes he’s there. Her face immediately goes flush and she’s panicking a good bit now.   
It takes her another few moments to calm down. It doesn’t seem like Hop is going to wake up unless y/n resorts to violent measures. So, her response to the situation is to softly look at him with the most obvious love eyes anyone has ever seen.   
At this moment, y/n noticed a few things about Hop. She had always seen his freckles, but they seemed to be fading. Either could be from the season or from he’s been spending more time inside, but his face used to be completely decorated by them. The two would spend most of their time outside together, anywhere in the area between Postwick and Wedgehurst. They must be fading since he spends most of his time in the lab now. It made her sad in a way, she liked his freckles.   
She decides to get out of bed to get dressed. Hopefully, this’ll wake up Hop too so he’ll get himself out of her bed. She moves his arms from her torso, placing them on him and crawling over him to get her feet on the ground. This did, in fact, wake up Hop.  
He grumbles a bit before sitting up, rubbing his eyes. Clearly, he was telling the truth when he said it was not so good night. He seemed a bit more aware of his predicament, looking immediately at y/n.  
“Hi.” y/n says choppily. A stinge is in the air, a slightly uncomfortable feeling.   
“Hi,” Hop says back. He takes his phone from the nightstand next to him. “Are you leaving?”   
“I was about to get changed… since we’re going to the towers.” y/n says in a curious way. Hop nods.  
“Right. I forgot about that for a second.” Hop says. He gets out of her bed, making it a little bit. He never did that before when the two would sleep in the same bed. y/n didn’t notice this. y/n leaves the room, leaving to change.   
Hop stands silently for a moment. His heart felt a little weird. Similar to how he felt when y/n first came by the lab before going to the Isle together.   
“I guess that’s something to help me pinpoint how long this has been going on…” He thinks to himself, going to the closet to put his dojo uniform on.   
A few moments later, the two meet out in the hall. They both were incredibly awkward with each other. Not only had they realized their feelings, but they realized how intense those feelings were.   
They stop before leaving. “Do you want to eat something in the kitchen?” y/n asks. She knew he hadn’t had anything from there in a while.  
“...yes, please. I have had nothing but pretty much snacks this entire week.” He said, holding his stomach lightly. y/n laughs, bringing him to the kitchen. Klara is in there, on her phone. Hop and y/n get their breakfast.   
“I had half a mind to save you some food. I wasn’t sure how keen you would have been on that. How would I tell you?” She says, in a humorous tone. Hop laughed back at that, smiling sweetly.   
Klara looks up from her phone, seeing the two together, chitchatting. She sighs in relief. Finally, those two idiots started speaking again.   
Klara texts y/n. She got her number shortly after consulting her earlier in the week.

Klara: you two finally dating?

Klara puts her phone down, waiting for y/n to respond when she could. y/n and Hop sat down across them, Klara and y/n making eye contact. Klara taps her phone. y/n gets on her phone for a second, seeing her message. She shoots Klara a glare, which made Klara frown. How long are these clowns going to take?   
After eating, the both of them leave the dojo, going to their respective towers. Since they both needed to have individual battles with Mustard, Hop is scheduled for his battle first. The two both went to the tower together, catching up on what had happened over the course of the week.   
Neither of them had a lot to say. Hop told her about a few things that happened, like a rock falling on his head while he was going through the cave to train. y/n found this pretty entertaining. They both make it to the tower Hop will battle in. y/n wishes him luck, hugging him tightly.   
“Are you sure you’re okay just waiting around?” Hop asks sweetly, his hands on her arms. Arceus, they’re already acting like a couple and y/n would die if she didn’t get Hop into the tower in a few seconds.   
“Yeah, just call me after. I’ll be close by.” She says, smiling.   
“Alright. I’ll see you soon!” He says happily. y/n nods and watches Hop enter the tower. She releases her Kubfu, making a small noise in excitement.  
“Let’s explore a little bit, bud.” She says to her Kubfu, walking down the hill with him following shortly behind.

12:38 pm, Challenge Road.

Hop enters the tower, the large doors closing behind him in a loud thud. He hears y/n take off and then faces his first opponent. The tower, on the inside, is completely quiet. Too quiet. He looks at his first opponent, one of the students of the dojo. He looks eager to start fighting.   
He stands across from him on the battle floor, the student rustling to get his Pokeball. “I’ll show you how to fight with both light and dark.” He sends out Hop’s first opponent, a Zoura. Hop lets his Kubfu walk in front of him, ready to battle. Becoming higher levelled had made his Kubfu more confident in herself, but still shy.   
Hop commands her to attack first, her having higher speed. Hop focused on making her as fast as possible. She knocks the Zoura to half of its health, quickly retaliating back against his Kubfu.  
Like mentioned, Hop’s Kubfu is massively overleveled now. It only took one more attack to knock the Zoura out, the student respectfully acknowledging his defeat and lets Hop to the next floor. He takes a potion out of his bag, healing her back up to maximum health before moving onto the next floor. 

Hop finally makes it to the final floor. None of the other challenges proved to be very difficult, mostly just frustrating to get through since he knew he would win easily. He sees Mustard on the final floor, waiting patiently. He smiles when he sees Hop enter the room.  
“I knew you would finally make it!” Mustard smiles happily. Hop gives a half-hearted smile back, he’s similar to how he was in the semifinals.   
“You both have grown so much… I’m proud of ya for making her have such a strong fighting spirit!” He says. “It’s been a while since little ol’ me has fought like this… but I should be able to handle it.”  
“Let’s hope. I can’t wait to destroy your team!” Hop says enthusiastically. Mustard laughs.  
“Let me teach you your final lesson… the essence of darkness!” He says. He does a series of movements that catch Hop off guard, his coat and hat flying off to reveal a champion’s outfit. Hop felt a nervousness pass through him. Mustard proceeds to send out his own Kubfu, the small bear looks eager and ready to fight. It made Hop’s own Kubfu nervous.   
“I’ll need to get serious if I want to take you down… Show me what you’re made of!” Mustard says, immediately commanding his Kubfu to attack with Aerial Ace.   
Hop flinches when he sees his Kubfu seriously hurt. The nervousness only got worse, thinking about what moves his own Kubfu has. He thinks about it for a few more moments before realizing he had trained her to learn Focus Punch. He gives his Kubfu a look, something they had trained with before coming. She knows immediately, pumping up for it.   
Thankfully for him, Mustard aims for a Focus Energy. Hop’s Kubfu immediately goes after the other, knocking the opposing Kubfu to the red. Hop smiles widely.   
Mustard command for another Aerial Ace, also knocking Hop’s Kubfu to the red. He wipes the sweat from his brow, aiming for a Close Combat. He does this, soon after Mustard’s Kubfu fainting.  
Hop’s eyes widen in amazement. A previous champion. He had just beaten a champion. Maybe Hop is more than how he makes himself out to be. He slightly holds onto the necklace he had gotten, spinning the chain around his finger.  
Mustard’s Kubfu faints, retracting back into its Pokeball. Mustard crosses his arms, looking at Hop and his exhausted Kubfu.   
“What a team… you both are most impressive!” He says, loudly on top of that. Hop and his Kubfu look at each other happily, proud of what they had accomplished. Kubfu punches the air in excitement, squealing and making plenty of cute noises. This makes Hop and Mustard laugh.  
“I knew you would be worthy of her… you’ve done very well!” Mustard says. “Your brother, Leon, he was one of my best students. He never finished the towers, however. He just got lost!”  
“That sounds like Lee.” Hop says, smiling. Mustard smiles at him kindly.  
“It’s time for your Kubfu to evolve. Let her see the banner, she is ready.” Mustard says, stepping out of the way to let Hop and Kubfu make their way to it. Hop walks to it first, looking at the banner for a moment before Kubfu walks over.   
She looks at the banner, processing it. She then makes another noise. At that moment, she starts to glow, clearly evolving.   
It took a few moments, but then she finished. She towered over Hop, however, she still has a gentle face.   
“Ah! She certainly has grown. And to think, not long ago she would have run away to hide behind one of us!” Mustard says with excitement. “No matter how old I get, it always brings me joy seeing this! Thank you both, here have this.” Mustard hands him his league card, Hop flipping it over to see both sides.  
“You can head back to the dojo now. I have to go battle against y/n now!” Mustard says. Hop nods, putting his now evolved Urshifu in his Pokeball. 

Hop has been waiting at the dojo for a long while. He saw y/n shortly before she went to the dojo, calling her that she is ready to fight and they hugged before she went into the tower. It’s taking her much longer than it took Hop.  
However, when she came back, she announced she lost against Mustard and would spend the rest of the day training. Hop was shocked by this, y/n never lost. However, he didn’t question it and let her go off to train.  
But, she kept losing. Time after time, she would lose too much health from Mustard’s Aerial Ace. She tried everything, even relearning moves, but she couldn’t figure out what she is doing wrong. She came back to their room one night from training, flopping face in on her bed.   
The two were silent, Hop simply looking at her. Typically she would say something, but she seemed so exhausted.  
“y/n?” Hop asks quietly, putting his phone down on the nightstand. “Are you okay?” He gets from his bed, crouching down by the side of her bed.   
“Mffmmfm…” She tries to get out, but her mouth is in contact with the blanket. How fun.  
“I can’t hear you, y/n.” Hop says, smiling. She moves her head to look at him.  
“I lost again. I went training after, but then my Kubfu was knocked out by a Chancey of all Pokemon.” She says, sighing after. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. He’s already almost at level 75!”   
“I hope you can beat him next time. I know you’re doing great regardless.” Hop says. y/n sighs again.  
“Right.” She mutters. A silence passes between them until y/n speaks again.  
“Can you hold my hand?” She asks quietly. Hop almost falls on his ass from this.  
“Huh?” He asks, putting one of his hands on the ground to stabilize himself.  
“You heard me.” She says.   
“...alright.” He says, getting back to his feet and sitting on the edge of her bed. He takes his hand in hers and holds it gently.   
Hop is, once again, an absolute disaster! His face is flushed ear to ear, and thankfully, y/n had put her face back down into the bed. They stay like this until she flips her head back out.  
“Your hand is soft.” She says quietly. He’s startled by this, jumping slightly.  
“...really?” He asks quietly.   
“Yeah.” She simply says. She yawns before taking her hand back. “I’m gonna go to sleep.”   
“In that?” Hop questions, looking at y/n’s current get up. She’s still in her dojo uniform. She nods, grabbing the covers and getting under them.  
“Goodnight.” She says. Hop responds similarly, but with a confused tone. Hopefully, she isn’t dying by the time she wakes up.


	7. Chapter 7

11:57 am, Soothing Wetlands.

y/n and Hop walked together to the Tower of Waters, the day after y/n’s most recent defeat. The walk is quiet, neither of them had much of a need to speak to each other. They both knew what the other is thinking for the most part. However, the twos’ attitudes couldn’t be more different.  
y/n woke up gross, groggy, and sweaty from sleeping in her uniform. Of course, Hop had to be right about it. She had woken up before him, so she took off to take a shower and put on a new uniform. As one does in the shower, she contemplates the angles of her crush on Hop and how to deal with it. She didn’t feel ready to confess, but she knew she would have to do it if she is serious about her feelings for him. She couldn’t even tell if she is serious, however.   
When Hop eventually woke up, y/n was sitting at her desk, fiddling with the charm on her necklace. She ate some food that she clearly stole from Hop, but he’s too love-stricken to do anything about it. He just got up, said good morning, grabbed his clothes, and left for a few moments.   
He soon came back and jotted some stuff down in his journal. This caught y/n’s attention. “You writing your deepest darkest secrets in there?” She said with a smirk.  
“Oh, of course. You want to hear them?” He asks, grabbing his book and holding it so only he could read it.   
“Yes, confess your sins to me.” She says, giggling. Hop looks at his journal.  
“‘I have observed that Luxrays live here. I have figured out their hidden ability, of which is ‘guts.’’ Is that juicy enough for you?” He says, with a smug look.  
“Absolutely.” She says, getting up from her chair and stretching. “Do you want to come with me? To the tower?” She offers.   
“Sure!” Hop says, springing from his chair and grabbing his bag. He takes some food out of it before slinging it on his back.   
And that’s where they are now. They’re about halfway there, still silent. Most because Hop is still eating. The trees wave gently in the ocean breeze.  
“Do you have a new strategy?” Hop asks before taking another bite of his food. y/n sighs and looks at her Kubfu, who happily sat on her shoulder.  
“I do, but I’m not sure if it’ll work. I’m really hoping for the best here.” She responds mellowly.   
“I’m sure you’ll do great. I believe in you, mate!” He says happily. His happiness is contagious, for sure. It makes y/n feel much better about what is coming.   
The two make it to the tower, it ominously looks over the two as its shadow casts directly on them. y/n takes a deep breath.   
“You can do it, y/n,” Hop says quietly. The two hug, y/n smiles but doesn’t seem confident in her ability. She sighs.   
“Hopefully, this won’t take long. I don’t struggle at all with the trainers on the lower levels, it’s just Master Mustard who gets me.” She says, looking off into the distance. “I’m the champion, I beat the unbeatable champion, this shouldn’t be difficult for me.”   
Hop looks at her sympathetically. “I promise it’ll be okay if you lose again. You can always try again. This is a tough battle.” y/n took another deep breath.   
“You’re right… I just don’t like how much I’m losing. I wish I learned to take an ass-kicking.” She says, giggling. Hop smiles at that.   
“I guess you could have. Maybe go up against Lee a few more times, you’ll lose eventually.” Hop says. y/n smiles.  
“Yeah, you’re right about that.” She says. “I’m gonna go ahead and go in. You don’t have to wait if you don’t want to.”  
“Alright. I wish you luck!!” He says happily. y/n smiles back then go into the tower. Hop watches the doors close, standing silently, looking at the tower.   
He takes out a towel he put in his bag and lays it out on the sand. He decided today he would wait, he’s got some time to kill anyway. He takes out his journal, jotting things down he observed around his surroundings. Hopefully, this will make enough time pass. 

y/n had finally done it, she beat Master Mustard. Her new strategy was so much so for Mustard’s little Kubfu that her own didn’t lose much health. One bulk up and an aerial ace brought the opponent down to almost done, and sealing the deal with close combat gave her Kubfu the win he deserved.  
Her little Kubfu finally evolved into Urshifu, towering over her but still looking as goofy as ever. This made y/m happy, having a new addition to her family of Pokémon. Her main team is bound to love the new addition, which also includes her recently evolved Ivysaur. She had been training him one on one too, giving him attention and the love he deserves. He seemed very keen on this.  
When Mustard and y/n left the tower, y/n spotted Hop on the sand passed out. His journal and bag laid on the side of him, his pen still in hand. He must have gotten really bored.  
“I’ll get him, you can go ahead.” y/n says to Mustard, which he promptly nods and walks into the distance. y/n approaches Hop, crouching down to be closer. The sun had risen enough for the light to hit his face. The golden sun highlighted his freckles, they were coming back.  
y/n felt her cheeks fluster, sighing slightly. Oh, how bad she has is it for this one boy. She gently shakes his arm, waiting for him to wake from his nap. She glances at the journal, it’s wide open for her to see. A drawing of a Chancey was poorly done in it. She laughs softly before shaking his arm again.   
Hop mumbled upon the third shake, his eyes fluttering open and immediately getting assaulted by the death rays of the sun above him. He closes his eyes again, groaning.  
“Auuuugh, sun.” He says softly. y/n chuckles.  
“Hi, Hop.” She says nonchalantly. Hop opens his eyes, looking up at the face looming over him. He smiles as he sees her smile. “Let me help you up.” She says. She gets back to her feet, reaching her hand out for Hop for him to prop himself up. He does, then quickly after puts his belongings in his bag. He slings it over his back, getting it to the perfect position.  
The two stand near the ocean side, letting the waves crash up against the shore and the trees flutter in the wind. It’s quiet now, dinner time is approaching and the sun had begun to make its journey behind the horizon to let the moon take its place.   
“So, did you win?” Hop asks, his face beamed and his cheeks were hot. He probably looked like a happy puppy, but he didn’t care. He wanted to know how y/n did.  
y/n paused for dramatic effect. “I won this time!” She says, suddenly. Hop gasps happily, hugging y/n tightly. This surprised her, but it wasn’t unwelcome. She hugged back, wrapping her arms over Hop’s shoulders.  
“y/n! Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!” He says, keeping the hug as tight as ever. y/n smiled brightly, happy she could make him happy.   
Hop let his grip loosen, looking at her and smiling. She looked so happy. Her smile reached both her ears, she looks as happy as she did when she first became the champion. It’s thrilling to see her this happy.  
And at that moment, in the midst of excitement and happiness, their lips met. It was a short kiss, one reflecting their own emotions without much regard for the other, but still loving nonetheless.   
It took a few moments for the both of them to realize what was happening, a tearing of anxiety and shock ran through y/n. Hop lifted his lips, looking at y/n, taking in what just happened.   
“...y/n?” Hop asks quietly. He looks confused, excited, and loving all at the same time. “I… That’s what I was figuring out,” Hop says. y/n shifts her eyes away as reality sank in.  
“I’m…” y/n couldn’t articulate what she’s thinking. “I- Arceus. Hop, I’ve gotta go, I’ve-“ She tore away from Hop’s arms, making a run for it. Her heartbeat in her ear. She hadn’t thought this far.  
y/n heard Hop call for her name, each time being more and more pained. But, when she was gone in the forest, Hop stopped his attempts. He just stood there with a feeling of disappointment and sorrow tugging for him.   
He didn’t go looking for y/n. He just dragged his feet back to the dojo, wondering what to do next. He felt rejected, but he didn’t know what she meant. He hoped for the best, but he truly expected the worst.   
He opens the dojo doors, not expecting anyone worthwhile to try to get his attention. He looks up for a moment and sees a smile that immediately comforted him, but he needed to get away from everyone as soon as possible.   
“Hi, Hop!” Sonia says, approaching him and smiling with a wide grin. “I’m here for a little bit to study on Dynamaxing in this area. Are you doing okay?” She asks, noticing the glum in his eyes. He sighs.  
“I’m glad you’re here but… I need to be alone for a bit. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” He says, managing to put a smile on his face. Sonia looks concerned, but she lets him go to his room anyway.  
The room felt quiet when he opened the door. The light passively hit the floor through the window, but not much else was illuminated besides that. He put his bag on his chair, flopping onto his bed and sighing.  
He knew he messed up by kissing her. He felt in that moment they both liked each other, and the possibility for them to be together was true. Of course, he misread the situation. He let tears fill his eyes, cascading down his face. He wasn’t sure how to handle tomorrow, but he’s going to try regardless. 

02:38 pm, Forest of Focus.

y/n wasn’t quite sure where she’s going. All she knows is that she’s going away. Away from Hop, away from the tower, away from everyone. She couldn’t stop her feet, but it didn’t matter until she got to a place that is simply away.   
She considered for a moment calling a flying taxi and leaving the island entirely. But, that thought was shoved down before it got any more complicated. She found herself in the Forest of Focus and eventually stopping at a dead end with a berry tree.   
She sighed heavily, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She sits down at the base of the tree, putting her legs up against her chest. She then releases her newly evolved Urshifu as a sort of means for comfort. And to vent her feelings.   
The Pokémon looks at her confused. He was expected the Dojo, not the middle of the damned forest. He sits next to her, making a small noise.  
“Arceus… I’m such an idiot!” She says, digging her fingers into the ground and grass. Urshifu looks at her curiously. “I've been making plans to tell this idiot since I talked to Klara, and I get, you know, what I’ve literally been thinking about this entire time!” She says, scooting her legs out in front of her.   
Urishifu lets out a sigh, then puts a paw on her shoulder. y/n looks at him then smiles. “I know you don’t know what I’m saying. I appreciate it, though.” She says, sighing next. “I don’t know why I did that, though. I literally like him, and that was my confirmation for him liking me back!” She puts her hand out in front of herself dramatically, animating what she is saying.   
“He probably thinks he ruined everything, but he didn’t! I’ll have to talk to him… I- Arceus! I made this so much more difficult than it needed to be!” She exclaims. “I could have literally just ‘da-da-da, take Hop outside, tell him I like him, now we can date!’ but I had to run away and now I’m gonna have to tell him it isn’t his fault! He probably won’t believe me anyway!”   
Urshifu, in all his wisdom, lets out a small noise. y/n doesn’t look at him, just signing again. She gets up onto her feet, stretching her arms above her. “How about we both explore a little bit? Find some weird stuff?” She says, looking back at him. Urshifu excitedly gets up, and the two go off.

Urshifu and y/n had spent a long while exploring. They found a large multitude of stuff. Strange little outcoves and secret areas, plenty of dropped items that y/n would use for her Pokémon, and the two fought in a few raid battles. The two were sufficiently tired and the sun was setting over them, the journey it had made had reached its end and the sky was the only thing leaving the atmosphere illuminated.  
y/n walks through the Soothing Wetlands, exiting the Forest of Focus. She had a growing amount of anxiety about seeing Hop again. She isn’t quite sure what to do yet. Her current game plan is any of the following:  
Ignore him completely if he’s awake. An awful idea, and honestly, y/n is a complete idiot for even considering this.   
If he’s still awake, stop being a coward and actually tell him her feelings. She’s gonna have to do it eventually.   
If he’s asleep, go straight to bed and sleep for either the rest of eternity or deal with her feelings tomorrow.   
y/n had concluded all these ideas are absolutely awful and the fact she’s going to have to tell Hop “Hey! Remember when we kissed and I ran away from you? Well, it’s actually because I have a big ol’ crush on you and I’m awful at figuring out my feelings!”   
She decides to not deal with it at all until Hop makes himself present.   
She’s about halfway across the swamp before she spots Sonia of all people. y/n feels multiple feelings at this moment. “Shit, I’m probably gonna have to tell her about why Hop is sad.” is the first thought she has. There’s no way that Hop didn’t at least see Sonia today.   
“Hey! y/n!” Sonia says, waving her hand over her head. y/n musters up a smile before approaching her, Urshifu following behind quietly.  
“Hi, Sonia!” She says. Sonia smiles at her.   
“How’s everything going? I see you defeated the Tower of Water.” Sonia says. y/n feels a pit in her stomach react to ‘Tower of Water’, but now is not the time to deal with feelings.   
“Haha, yeah. I just did it today, actually.” y/n responds. Sonia looks away, looking at the scenery.   
“How’s thing been otherwise, though?” She asks. y/n knows exactly where this is going, but at this point, it’s a little too late to backtrack.  
“Mmh, complicated. A lot has happened.” She says, looking at the ground. Sonia’s smile turns to a more concerned expression.  
“I had a feeling… did something happen to Hop?” Sonia finally asks. “I saw him earlier, but he was being weird.”   
y/n stays silent for a moment, gaining her confidence. “Actually… could I tell you what’s been going on? In more detail?”  
“Of course, y/n. Let’s go sit down.” Sonia says, leading her to a small bench. “Let your heart out.” 

After a pseudo-therapist appointment with Sonia, she rubbed her temples and sighed.   
“You’ve got yourself in a serious hole, y/n.” She says, putting her hands back onto her lap.   
“Yeah, no shit.” was y/n’s only response. Sonia shoots her a glare for swearing, then gets back on topic.  
“Honestly, you just need to clarify things. I’m sure he’ll understand.” She says. y/n looks at the grass below her, rubbing her thumb against her pointer finger.   
“What if he doesn’t believe me?” y/n quietly asks. “I don’t know. He’s been… really unhappy it seems. I don’t want to make things worse.”   
“He’s going to believe you,” Sonia says. “I want you to do this as soon as possible, is that alright? Better to do it now.” y/n sighs.  
“I guuuuesssss.” She says obnoxiously.   
“Could have better spirit, but good enough,” Sonia says sarcastically. y/n, this time, shoots her a glare. “Anyway, Master Mustard wants us all to go on a trip around the island to find something for Urshifu.”  
“I’m sorry?” y/n asks. “I thought I was done with my training..?”   
“And I quote Mustard here, ‘you are never done with training,” Sonia says with an absolutely awful imitation of Mustard. y/n rolls her eyes at this.  
“Alright then. What does he need fetching?” y/n asks.   
“That’s the thing. We don’t know. He claimed he forgot, then left. Hop threw a little fit about it.” Sonia says, laughing. This makes y/n smile. At least Hop can still be happy if the two aren’t on the greatest terms.  
“Well, alright. I’m sure you two will be able to figure it out pretty quickly.” y/n replies. She sighs, looking up at the dim red sky. She has a pretty strong feeling this is going to be the most awkward part of the entire stay on the island.  
“Of course! But don’t forget, you two are the legendary team. Heroes of Galar.” Sonia says. y/n’s cheeks flush up a bit.  
“Right. ‘Heros of Galar.’” She mimics. “I think we should head back.” y/n says.  
“Yeah, it’s getting really late,” Sonia replies. She then takes out her phone. “It’s already 9 pm…” y/n sighs.  
“I hope Hop is asleep. I don’t have the emotional energy to deal with… everything.” y/n says.  
“I’m sure he passed out hours ago. That boy can’t stay up for the life of him if something like what happened happens.” Sonia says, laughing. y/n nods, the two heading back to the dojo together.


	8. Chapter 8

07:01 am, Fields of Honour.

y/n woke up a few minutes ago. Hop had already left, she could hear him talking to Sonia in the communal area. She knew she had to get out of bed, but any attempt wasn’t very successful. It wasn’t until she literally rolled out of bed and onto the floor she got any success getting out of bed. But now she has to get off the floor.   
When Sonia and y/n had gotten back to the dojo, Hop was fast asleep, just like Sonia said. He seemed peaceful in his sleep, not a worry in the world. She felt guilty for causing him distress again, knowing that he didn’t deserve it. Hop deserves the entire world.   
She’s worried about how Hop will be during her time out hunting for whatever they need for Mustard and Urshifu. There’s a lot of anxiety involved in this, she isn’t sure what to do about it. She’s expecting herself to trail behind while Hop and Sonia do their science-y investigation. It sucks, but she doesn’t want to do it too soon. She’s worried it’ll ruin the fun for Sonia.   
She finally gets up off the floor, getting to her feet. She went to the closet to grab her clothes, the same dojo uniform she has been wearing since she arrived. She isn’t sure how much longer she’ll be staying here on the island. She isn’t looking forward to it, mostly just being so busy. However, she’s got a bit more of a plan to demand free time and not be booked from the moment she wakes up to the moment she sleeps, seven days a week.   
She trotted herself to the bathroom to change. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment. She looks stressed. She knows Sonia, Klara, and anyone who knows anything about y/n are going to possibly comment on it, but there’s not much that can be done about it.   
She opts to lose the jacket for the day. It’s been increasingly hot out, and she knows she’ll just sweat beyond belief if she decides to wear it. She kind of wishes she could just wear her clothes, but she would feel less incentive to do the dojo work if she wore her typical champion uniform. She just wants to get into a comfortable, known pair of clothes. She guesses she’ll just have to wear it once she’s gone from the island.   
She finally leaves the bathroom and grabs her bag from her room before making her way down the hallway. She sees Hop, Mustard, and Sonia all talking. y/n opts to just go to the kitchen to get food. Better not make things more awkward for the three of them.   
Klara, as usual, is in the kitchen bothering Avery. He seems to be more chill these days, finally getting over himself and using his training for more meaningful ways. Klara, however, got over herself as soon as she was forced to help y/n.   
y/n sits down at the table, scrolling through her phone and eating the small amount of food she got. Klara notices this and immediately makes a comment about it.  
“Where’s loverboy?” Klara asks obnoxiously, finally giving Avery a break from being harassed. y/n doesn’t look away from her phone.  
“Out talking with Sonia and Master Mustard.” She says, very deadpan. Even Avery notices the behaviour change. Klara gives her a strange look.  
“What’s your problem?” Klara asks. y/n looks at her, sighing.   
“I’m not exactly in the greatest place to talk about it. If you’re that curious, ask Sonia.” y/n says, finishing her food and putting her dish by the sink. She immediately exits the kitchen, leaving Klara and Avery to be confused about why she had such an attitude this morning.   
y/n sits down on the small staircase near the door. She assumes Sonia will come and get her when it comes time to fetch whatever Mustard wants from them. She sees Klara and Avery leaving the kitchen, as passive-aggressive with each other as ever. The two leave the dojo almost yelling. Who knows what kind of problems they’ve got this time. They’re always up each other’s asses, anyway.   
She notices Hop glancing at her from time to time. She wishes things didn’t have to get so awkward, if that dumbass kiss didn’t happen then it wouldn’t be a problem. She wants to just go back to acting like best friends and waiting until she felt comfortable enough or has enough incentive to tell him about her feelings.   
Sonia finally approaches her, y/n looking up to her. She felt her heart rate get faster.   
“Are you ready to go?” Sonia asks, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. “I take it you haven’t figured things out with Hop.”  
“Pfft, no. The only times I’ve seen him since the Tower of Water, he’s either asleep or with someone.” She says, crossing her arms. “I guess I’m ready to go…” She trails off, leaving Sonia with a frown.   
“Alright. He and I will head outside.” Sonia says, leaving y/n to her own devices before heading out with both of them. Sonia talks to Hop for a moment, Hop glancing at y/n more time, then leaves the dojo. y/n sighs and gets up from her spot. She dreads this damned activity, but it can’t be helped. She’s done enough uncomfortable things during her time as champion, she can go a little beyond and deal with this. 

The three of them meet up outside right by the dojo doors. Hop looks extremely uncomfortable. So does y/n. Sonia is annoyed with both of them for being the most oblivious people in all of Galar. Sonia knows that neither of them will speak to each other without Sonia literally forcing them to, and she isn’t even sure that even Sonia forcing them to physically speak to each other will work. What idiots.   
Sonia looks at Hop, then y/n. They both are literally going to combust. Sonia sighs.  
“Alright. Do either of you know what we’re looking for?” Sonia asks, putting her hands on her waist. Hop goes to speak before getting cut off for a second by y/n, then they both shut up waiting for the other to speak.   
Sonia sighs again. “Alright. Which one of you is going first?” She asks. The two look at each other for a moment before looking away.  
“y/n can go first,” Hop says, shifting uncomfortably. y/n looks up for a moment.  
“No, you can go ahead. I assume you’ll know more about this anyway…” y/n replies. Sonia looks like she’s about to combust.  
“Oh my Arceus, I’m going to kill you both,” Sonia says, putting her hands to her head. “Just say something! It isn’t that big of a deal!” She finished. Hop and y/n just kind of look at her.   
“My Urshifu likes sweet things…” Hop mumbles. y/n looks at him then at Sonia. Sonia notes this.  
“Hmm. Alright. Where would be find something sweet in nature?” Sonia looks down at the ground. The three think for a few moments before y/n spoke.  
“What about nectar…?” She says quietly. Hop and Sonia look at her, Sonia smiling.  
“I like the sound of that! Where do you think we could find something like that?” Sonia asks.  
“I’ve seen Lilligants in the forest before. We can head there.” Hop says. Sonia nods, leading to Hop starting to walk off. Sonia and y/n follow behind closely.  
“You both are such a pain in my ass,” Sonia says. y/n looks away. “I hope you get this settled soon. I can’t stand to see you both like this.” Sonia finishes.   
“...Sorry.” y/n says softly. Sonia looks at her sympathetically.   
“I mean that in a very loving way.” She says. “Hop! Wait up!” She calls out, Hop stopping to wait for the two. He doesn’t speak when the three walk together, Sonia trying desperately for them to at least acknowledge each other more than once.   
Despite Sonia’s hopes and dreams, the two, in fact, did not speak to each other. She wasn’t even sure what she is expecting anymore, nothing’s going to happen until y/n finally musters up the courage to tell Hop what's going on. They’re lucky Sonia hasn’t half-strangled them to death.   
The three of them finally make it to the Forest, y/n pulling up a map of the island on her phone. Everyone knows it’s just to prevent from having to talk, though. y/n goes first into the forest, scanning for any possible Lilligants. The two follow, y/n shrugging.  
“I don’t see any.” She says, getting back on her phone. Hop then scans around.   
“Wait, there’s a Petilil. You think that would help us find one?” Hop asks Sonia.   
“Oh, definitely!” Sonia says, before noticing more about the little Petilil. “It looks lost…”   
“I’ll take a look around to see if I can find its mom, I guess.” y/n says. Hop nods in response.   
“Alright, good luck!” Sonia says as y/n walks off. Sonia looks at Hop in a particular way. Regardless of what she already knows, she wants to hear what Hop has to say about this.   
“What’s your problem?” Sonia asks. Hop flinches at this, not expecting to be spoken to. He looks at her in a sort of concerned way.  
“What do you mean…?” He says quietly. Sonia rolls her eyes.  
“You’re acting like a complete weirdo. You’re never like this.” Sonia keeps up her act of complete non-understanding of what is happening. Better not give the boy more reason to worry.   
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it…” He says. Sonia may or may not kill Hop on the spot. She sighs in response.  
“Don’t lie to me, I always know when something’s wrong with you,” Sonia says, putting her hands on her waist. “I’m naturally good at it.” Her face is full of smugness.   
Hop stays silent for a few moments. “Something happened. With y/n and I.” Sonia rolls her eyes.  
“Yeah, obviously,” Sonia says. She looks down at Hop, who shifted uncomfortably when her eyes land on him.   
“Mmm, I… did something I probably shouldn’t have.” He puts his hands in front of him, linking them together. His face flushed up a bit.  
“You kissed her?” Sonia asks. Hop immediately looks at her. “How’d you know?” He asks.  
“Intuition.” She lies, smiling. “You like her?” She asks, she wants to tease him so badly but now is not the time. She already almost killed him this morning.   
“Mhm.” Hop looks away at something else, away from Sonia. “I don’t know, she didn’t… react well when I uh… yeah.” He sighs. “I don’t know what to do. I’m worried she hates me.”   
Like everyone reading this already knows, Sonia is about to actually commit second-degree manslaughter because of these two idiots. Sonia truly just wants to spew out what y/n told her, but she knows y/n is going to have to do it herself.   
“Mmm, I doubt that. Talk to her about it later, alright? You shouldn’t have to feel like this longer than you need to.” Sonia says. Hop nods, looking off into the distance. He notices y/n coming back with a Lilligant.  
“I found the mom.” She says. “Who’s gonna try to get her nectar?” Hop and Sonia looked at each other before Hop volunteers. He walks over to the Lilligant, doing his thing before she walks off with her child.  
“I don’t think this is it…” Hop says, turning back to the two of them. “It’s really watery.” Sonia looks down, thinking.  
“Alright… what else can produce nectar?” She says. y/n walks back over to Sonia.   
“What about an Applin?” She proposes. Sonia and Hop look at her.   
“Oh, good idea! I assume you’ve seen one, lead the way!” Sonia says. y/n nods, walking off with the two of them following closely. The mist of the morning fog in the forest is still damp, the grass had wetness to it.   
The group finally made it to an area where y/n had spotted an Applin. She walks up to the tree where she saw it, shaking its flimsy stem. She shakes it a few times, looking up into the tree. A few shakes later, an Applin falls dead into y/n’s head, bouncing off her forehead and into the ground. It scuttles off onto the distance soon after.   
“Agh! We almost had that!” Hop exclaims, catching y/n off guard. The first time he's actually spoken up today. y/n stops shaking the tree, sighing. Sonia laughs for a second, trying to keep it in.  
“What?” y/n asks. Sonia doesn’t even try after this.  
“I think you may have Applin nectar on your forehead.” She says. “Hop, do your thing.”   
“Uhh, okay.” He says, approaching y/n and taking his hand to take the nectar off. The two literally crumble when this happens, but they had to keep in front of homicidal-tendencies Sonia. Hop takes a taste, sighing after.   
“I don’t think it’s nectar.” He says. “Still too watery.” He says, thinking. The three of them stay silent, until a small Venipede. The three of them look at it.  
“Hey, you don’t see those every day,” Hop says. “It makes this really dangerous poison… wait… do you think it’s honey?” He asks. Sonia facepalms.  
“You know, I’d hope you’d catch onto it on your own but Arceus…” Sonia says. “I mean that very lovingly, by the way.” She quickly clarifies. Hop rolls his eyes, looking over at y/n, who is on her phone.  
“There’s an island off the coast that’s literally in the shape of a honeycomb.” She says. “Can I assume you two can get there?” She asks. Both of them nod, leading to y/n leaving the two to get her bike.   
Sonia sighs, what is wrong with those two?

The three of them finally make it to the island. y/n had been waiting a good bit considering she got a head start. She sits on the ground of the island, patiently waiting. y/n and Hop make eye contact before the two looks at the giant tree looming over them.  
“You wanna go ahead and shake the tree? Maybe get a Vespiqueen? That’s what Sonia and I think it’ll be.” Hop asks. y/n nods her head, walking over to the tree and shakes it. She turns back after nothing happens, then shakes it again. She shakes it a few more times.  
As quick as it started, a Dynamaxed Vespiqueen falls out of the tree. y/n stumbles back, quickly reaching into her bag to send out her highest level Pokemon. She gets back to her feet when she notices Hop had also sent out a Pokémon to fight against the Vespiqueen.   
It took a fair few hits for the Vespiqueen to get knocked out, Hop opted for a Pokémon that would be super effective against it. When it finally got low enough, y/n caught it in a heal ball, picking up the ball and the things that were dropped when the battle is over. One of them was a honey-like object.  
y/n showed it to Hop. “You think this is what we need?” She says, handing it to him. Hop nods.  
“Yup. I think that’s finally what we need.” He says, sighing. “Finally. I’m ready for a nap.” He says. Sonia smiles at the two who talked together like nothing happened.   
Soon after, they went back to the dojo together. They brought the honey to Mustard, who confirmed it’s what they needed, calling it ‘Max money.” He mentioned he would prepare it for dinner tonight, Sonia in particular really looked forward to it.   
Hop didn’t end up taking that nap he said he would. He stood by one of the walls in the dojo communal area. y/n came out from her room after resting a bit, seeing Hop where he stood. She swallowed her nerves. It’s now or never. 

09:55 am, Fields of Honour.

y/n approached Hop who stood by the wall. She felt herself get more and more nervous with every step, but she knew she had to do this now. She shouldn’t let it simmer. She finally made it to him, fidgeting with her hands.  
“Hey, Hop?” She asked quietly. “Could we talk… outside?” She finishes saying. Hop looks at her curiously, but he felt the same anxiety crawling in.  
He nods, letting y/n lead the way. Sonia watched from the distance, sighing as she finally watched the two make up their mind to talk to each other and makeup.   
y/n and Hop make their way outside. They spend a long while walking, Hop shortly behind y/n, y/n not facing him. She is beyond anxious about all of this.  
“Why are we going this far?” Hop asks quietly. His heartbeat kept increasing and he fidgeted with his hands.   
“I… We need to be alone.” She responds. She takes a deep breath before stopping. They stood on the beach, y/n finally turning around. Her cheeks are flushed and she seems to be fidgeting with her hand just as much as Hop is. She could feel her heartbeat in her ear and she’s slightly nauseous. Arceus, help her survive.  
“First off, I’m… sorry I ran away. After we, uhm, kissed.” She says, her voice cracking. Hop slants his eyes away from her, embarrassed and ashamed. The soft sound of the water making its way up to the shore played quietly in the background, along with the slight breeze and birds chirping overhead.  
“...it’s alright. I shouldn’t have kissed you,” Hop says quietly, his face turning to be unhappy. y/n immediately tries to remediate this.  
“No, no, it’s okay…” Her voice trails off. What else is she supposed to say? She didn’t feel nearly ready enough to tell Hop that she loves him.   
“No, y/n, I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry…” He says. “You aren’t obligated to be with me if you don’t like me back.” It sounds like that last bit was prepared in his head beforehand.   
“No, no, no, no. I… Arceus!” She exclaims, putting her hands to her head. “I can’t articulate a single thing right now!”   
“y/n, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Hop says, a sympathetic look on his face. “You’ve dealt with a lot recently…”   
“I need to do this now, you’ve already split your feelings to me, it’s only fair I do it back.” She says, putting her arms back to her sides.   
“...alright. What do you need to say, y/n? You can let it all out.” Hop says, his soft smile reassurances y/n for a moment before she realizes again that she’s going to have to tell him her feelings one way or another. She already told Sonia and Klara, this is the last hurdle.   
“Listen… you’re my best friend. We’ve known each other for so long.” She starts, tugging at the area between her pointer finger and thumb. “I… genuinely can’t imagine a life without you.” Hop nods in response.   
“And-and, I still feel guilty for, Arceus, so many things I’ve done. I stole your dream, your brother’s career, I don’t know why you don’t hate me.” She says. Her eyeline is beaded with tears, Hop approaching to try to comfort her. He hesitates to touch her.  
“y/n… you did what you strived out to do. I love training to be a professor. I… you know my sluggishness was because I missed you, so, so, so much. I could never hate you.” The tears spill from y/n eyes. “...can I hug you?” He asks, y/n promptly nodding. He immediately takes her into his arms, she buries her head into his shoulder. Her breathing was unstable, she couldn’t quite get herself back together now.   
“I’m sorry, y/n,” Hop says quietly. “If it makes you feel better, what Lee is doing now, he’s happier doing it.” y/n’s breath quivers, then she moves her head from his shoulder. She’s still far away from okay, but it’s a step in the right direction.  
“Hop, I… I really don’t know how to say this.” She says, choking up at the end. Hop smiles gently and lets go of y/n.   
“Say it as simply as possible. You don’t need to muddy it for me. I can take it.” Hop says. y/n takes a deep breath in and out.  
“Hop, I… I love you.” She says, her hands visibly shaking. Hop stumbles back for a second, almost falling to the ground. y/n grabs his hand before he can land on the ground. “Please don’t fall!” She says, managing to laugh a little bit.   
“Huh?! Wh-What?!” He exclaims, his cheeks flushed all the way to his ears. y/n helps him back to his feet, letting him have his small panic moment.   
“I… think I have for a long time. I don’t really know when this feeling first came, but it’s been there for so long... “ She says, looking down on the ground. “I just… when we kissed, it overwhelmed me, I didn’t know what to make of it.”   
“It wasn’t until after you told me you had feelings for me that I had put two and two, and Arceus, all that emotion at once, I didn’t know what to do with myself!” She says, putting her hands up in slight exaggeration. Hop was beside himself. She gets a little closer to him, putting her forehead against his shoulder. Hop is actually dying right now.  
“I can’t imagine myself without you, Hop.” She says, barely in a whisper. That same sound of the ocean and the wind felt stronger now than before. It almost felt like the Slumbering Weald.   
“...How long?” Hop whispers, a desperate attempt to pin-point his love with hers. “I realized only recently but… I’ve-I’ve loved you since the gym challenge started.”  
“Same here, haha.” She says. “We’re such huge idiots.” Hop stays quiet for that one. A small silence passes between them, before Hop’s breath trembles a bit.  
“...can I kiss you?” He asks softly. y/n takes her head off his shoulder, a sweet smile plastered her face.   
“Yes.” She said softly. Hop softly took her face in his hand, a nervous blush creeping across his face, and put his lips against hers. This time, y/n kissed back.   
It stayed gentle, despite how the two wanted to progress it. y/n put her arms over his shoulders, bringing him closer to her. Oh, how she’s so desperately wanted this. She never realized it until coming to this island, but this is the missing piece that she was searching for. The hole missing in what she was doing. Sonia noticed it, she did too. But, she finally found it.  
Hop kept her close. He couldn’t believe this is happening. The first try was worth it since this was the result. y/n pressed herself closer, and in that instant, tears fell from her face. They kept getting heavier and heavier, the two splitting apart when her cries lead to her gasping for air.   
“Are you okay?” Hop asks quietly. He looks like he’s about to cry too, the blunted look in his eyes said everything that needed to be said.  
“I’m-I’m just so happy.” She manages to say between all the gasps for air. Hop began crying too, a big smile plastered his face. y/n seemed to smile back too, as much as she could smile while completely sobbing as well.   
“I am too, y/n.” He whispers, putting his forehead against yours. She continued to cry, keeping herself as close to Hop as possible. The feeling right now was so overwhelming. She couldn’t believe it was finally happening, but neither could he. Despite everything, she felt safe. Safer than ever. As long as it was with him, she’ll be safe.

The two decided not to announce anything quite yet. They made it back to the dojo after doing another exploration of the island, something both of them wanted to do one last time before leaving the island. Sonia had told them their time here is coming to an end, so a last-minute tour wasn’t an awful idea.  
By the time they made it back, it was dinner time. They sat at the table together, giggling and making remarks at each other. Nothing overtly romantic, just acting how best friends would. Four people, however, Sonia, Mustard, Honey, and Klara, all noticed. They all knew. Avery would notice too if he wasn’t so busy scoffing at how everyone ate their dinners.   
When night fell and everyone was in their room, y/n and Hop decided to have another heart to heart. One last one just to figure out where this bond between the two was going. They sat opposite each other on the floor, already in their pyjamas and ready to sleep if the moment called for it.   
“So.” Hop started. He felt a few nerves rise up, but he felt much more excited about this than anything else. His crush finally got him somewhere. “Are we in a relationship… or something?”   
y/n’s cheeks flush up at that, but she smiles gently. “I guess? I don’t know. People always have a few dates before that, but if you really wanted to, you could consider anything we’ve done here as a date.”  
“Right… and you’ve already pulled the love word out on me. I don’t know, I don’t think this would be a stereotypical meet cute relationship.” Hop says. y/n nods in response. All of a sudden, a sly smile creeps across her face.   
“Did you write about me in your journal?” She asks, leaning toward and propping her arms up to rest her head on her legs. Hop’s face immediately lights up, shaking his head.  
“I have to turn that into Sonia! I would never!” He says. y/n just laughs.  
“Right!” She exclaims, then she looks down at the ground. “I didn’t tell you a lot of what it was like. I mean, figuring out I liked you. Klara instigated the entire thing. Back in the Warm-Up Tunnel, when we first found out about Max Mushrooms,” Hop nods, following along. Secretly, he’s loving every second of finding out her experiences of liking him.  
“When you stopped talking to me, I asked for help from Klara of all people. Klara!” She says, laughing.   
“What?! Why her??” He asks. y/n shakes her head.  
“I was veeery desperate.” She says, yawning. “I think I’m about ready to go to sleep.” She pauses. “You want to with me?” She asks. Hop’s face flushes up before he nods.   
“Sure. It’s nothing new, anyway.” He says, the two bounce up from their original spot, y/n laying close to the wall and Hop going after, toward the edge of the bed. y/n pulls the covers over them.   
“Are you okay?” Hop asks quietly, putting his arms around her. She nods, yawning again. “Today’s been a long day.”  
“Yeah. I’m just glad we’re done being weird around each other.” She says. “Are you okay?” She asks, putting her head on the back of his head.  
“Mmm, yeah. I do think I should sleep, though.” Hop says. y/n smiles.  
“Alright. Goodnight.” y/n says. Hop also says goodnight, and eventually drifts to sleep.  
However, y/n didn’t go to sleep. It took her a lot longer, opting to scroll through her phone and keep herself entertained until she felt she could sleep. She truly just felt excited and relieved, relived that its finally over that the two would be weird around each other. She isn’t sure how awkward it’ll be by time its morning, but she hopes it won’t be nearly as bad.

08:39 am, Fields of Honour.

The alarm on Hop’s phone, which he left on the floor, blared obnoxiously, waking up both y/n and Hop. y/n groaned, moving Hop out of the way to get out of bed and turn of the alarm. It is 8:39 am. The alarm was supposed to go off forever ago.  
“Hey, Hop?” y/n asks, picking his phone up and sitting on the edge of the bed.  
“Mmh..?” Hop managed to get out, he seemed completely exhausted still.  
“You mind explaining your alarm here…? Since we should have been up an hour and forty minutes ago.” Hop sits up, rubbing his eyes. y/n then hands him his phone, which he looks at to the best of his ability considering he woke up mere moments ago:   
“Mmm, my phone silences everything before a certain time. I guess. I don’t know. I don’t really care enough to extensively think about it.” He responds, flipping himself out of bed and landing on the floor. “We should probably start packing, considering we’re leaving soon.”  
“I wanna eat first. I have nooo energy right now.” y/n says, getting up from the bed. Hop gets out of bed soon after, following y/n down the hall and into the kitchen. Everyone had already eaten, very little food is left but the two took what they could and scarfed it down in a short period of time.   
After they finish, Mustard soon approaches them. He greets them with a gentle smile, sitting across from them at the table.   
“Good morning you both. Are you ready for our final battle?” Mustard asks. Both of their faces immediately go to confusion. They both thought they were going to just leave. They may be together now, but they’re still idiots.   
“... huh?” Hop says first, looking at y/n to see if she knew anything about this. Obviously, she seemed just as “what the hell is he talking about”.   
“Oh! I must’ve not told you. We’ll have one last battle to finish your training. Double battles, of course! You two versus little ol’ me.” He says.   
“Oh, okay! We’ll get changed, let’s do it!” Hop says, standing up and pushing his chair in under the table. y/n follows quickly after, the two speedily making it to their room.   
y/n opens the closet, looking over at Hop. “Should we wear our normal clothes? Since we’re leaving?” She asks, Hop scanning the closest for anything but his dojo uniform.   
“Sure, we’ll be more comfortable during the ride back to Wedgehurst.” He says, taking his usual clothes and jacket out of the closet. y/n stops him for a moment, smirking.  
“Can I wear this?” y/n asks, smiling. She points to Hop’s jacket, which Hop looks down at for a moment. Hop immediately smiles, handing the jacket to her.   
“I expect you’ll return it for me.” He says. “I will charge you an overdraft fee.” Hop threatens. y/n laughs.   
“Let’s hope, maybe I’ll get attached to your jacket.” She says, taking her clothes out of the closet. Hop smiles at this before leaving the room to change in the bathroom. y/n closes the door after he leaves, locking it. She gets dressed into her clothes, leaving the bathroom soon after. The two meet in the hall.  
“You ready to go?” He asks, smiling as soon as he sees her. “Nice jacket.”   
“Thaaank you. I’m ready to go.” She responds, Hop nods, the two heading out to the battlefield together.

The battle proved to not be particularly difficult for the two. Compared to the Kubfu battles, they had a lot more wiggle room. Hop dynamaxed his Pokemon against Master Mustard, winning in a spectacular performance that shook the entire dojo, physically and emotionally.  
However, soon after, Sonia told them it is time to go. The two of them went to their room, packing their things and sitting on the floor together. They had plenty of things they had to neatly fold into the suitcase, which was already stuffed to the gills when they first came here. It didn’t help they were bringing new things back, a variety of small things they brought in the first place.  
“Can you take something?” y/n asks, handing him a set of clothes. “They can’t fit. Yours is so empty…” Hop looks at her particularly.  
“Sure. You have to put something small of mine in your bag, though.” Hop says, smiling.   
“N’aalright.” She holds her hand out for whatever Hop is going to give her. He hands her the journal he put his research in. y/n smiles mischievously.  
“How foolish of you to trust me with your deepest, darkest secrets…” She says, giggling.  
“All you’re gonna find in there is my research that I have to turn into Sonia.” He says. y/n goes “mhm.” and flips through the journal trying to find anything that she could use against him. This proves to be very unsuccessful.   
The door opens, the two looking at it as they see Sonia peek in.  
“Hey, you two. Are you ready to go?” She asks, the two looking at each other quickly.  
“Do we have everything?” Hop asks. y/n looks to the closet and around the room, looking back to Hop and nodding.   
“Yeah, we’re good to go.” y/n says. “I can’t believe we’re leaving…” The two get up, leaving the room.  
“Neither can I. But, I’m ready to sleep in my own bed. I miss it.” Hop replies. y/n nods in response. They make their final goodbyes to everyone before leaving the dojo.

y/n and Hop take their feet off the train, putting their feet on the Wedgehurst ground. Their luggage trails behind them, Sonia decided to stay on a little longer to talk to some people, the train will make its way back to Wedgehurst sometime today. On the train, most everyone was silent, occasionally Hop or y/n showing something to the other on their phone that they found funny. Hop and y/n were sufficiently exhausted and ready to take the rest of this break at home.   
The train station is quiet, quieter than the two would have expected considering the champion is coming through town. It is a workday, but the eeriness is a little haunting. They walk outside together, y/n going first through the corridor. The sun shines brightly in Wedgehurst today, just like when they left. It made them happy to finally be back.   
Hop knelt on the ground, putting his head on the road. “Ahh, Arceus, I’m so glad we’re finally back.” He says, exasperated. y/n giggles, kicking him gently.  
“Get off the ground, Hop.” She says, Hop promptly glaring at her before getting off the ground. “I am glad we’re back, though. I loved being there, but there was soooo muuuuchhh.” She says. Hop nods in response.  
“Let’s just go ahead and head back, do you wanna come over? I have some cool stuff I found when researching that aren’t actually research related.” Hop offers, y/n grinning widely.  
“Of course!” She responds, the two immediately dashing off to Hop’s house.  
It only took them thirty thousand words and an entire game to figure out their feelings for each other.


	9. Afterword

Hi! I’m writing this in advance, I’ll probably change this before I finish this fanfic, though. It kind of depends on, well, everything.  
I would first like to say thank you for reading through this! This started as a sort of self-indulgent fantasy for myself since I was and still am completely in love with Hop. He’s a very important character to me.  
I would like to just talk about some random stuff in here, however. You don’t have to read it, I’ll just be rambling. I would appreciate it if you did, though!  
Alright, first thing. I only played through Pokemon Sword completely recently. I picked it up again in December 2020 after I charged my switch to full battery for the first time in months.   
I never finished playing Sword, Moon, or Ultra Moon despite how huge a Pokemon fan I am. It’s a shame, really. I originally wanted to replay Pokemon X since my childhood friend was too, but I couldn’t find my copy of it. I settled for Pokemon Sword, and I completed the game. It’s the first Pokemon game I’ve completed since 2014 when I finished Omega Ruby. Then I bought the DLC. Then I replayed Sword. And now I’m playing through Shield.   
Getting back into Pokemon has been so positive for my mental health since I stopped playing when I was in a bad spot emotionally. I’ve managed to get my therapist appointments down to once per two months and I’ve been so much happier as a whole.  
Second thing. I haven’t completed a fanfic since 2018. I used to write avidly, writing all the time. I have plenty of completed fics from 2017 and 2018, a few of which are on Wattpad on an old account! I won’t tell you which ones they are, though. You’ll never guess.   
But, I lost my motivation to write after I finished a rewrite of my first fanfic. Right now, this fic isn’t finished. But, I’m four chapters away (update, working on the last chapter right now). But, this is the closest I’ve gotten to completing a fic in what… almost three years now? It’s safe to say I’m proud of myself and this fic. It’s my longest fic!   
This fic will probably hold a dear place in my heart after my love has moved onto my next hyperfixation that isn’t Pokemon. (Update, I ended up hyperfixating on Ninjago AGAIN and it took forever to write the last chapter.) I’m not sure how much I’ll write after this is finished, but I hope I can keep it up.  
Okay, I think I’m about done talking now. Thank you for reading through this fic and this afternote! There are currently no plans to make a sequel to this, but I may if I have a way to incorporate Hop into the Crown Tundra or any other DLC that will come out… we’ll just have to see!  
Bye! Thank you for reading!


End file.
